Fitchburg, Mass.—Teams from colleges in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina will gather at Fitchburg State College this month to compete for national exposure – qualification for the American Collegiate Moot Court National Tournament.
The campus is host to the Eastern Regional Qualifying Tournament, which will take place from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22 in the Hammond Campus Center, 160 Pearl St.
In moot court competition, students give 20-minute arguments on a legal case, and then are evaluated by lawyers, professors and judges. They are rated on knowledge of subject matter, responses to questions from the bench, and courtroom skills. Team members have seen numerous benefits from the skills they’ve learned.
The hypothetical case for this year’s tournament is Andrea “Andy” Sommerville vs. Olympus State University, William DeNolf as President, and focuses on free speech.
Qualifying teams at the regional will move on to national competition Jan. 16 and 17 at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, Calif.
Fitchburg State College is the only college in the country to advance to the second day of national Moot Court competition. Fitchburg State’s Moot Court team has made a strong showing at the regional event held at the college, advancing for national moot court competition eight times. The college has consistently advanced to the second day of national competition since 1998 and remains the only school in the nation to make the break in every national tournament.
The team of Sharon Lewis and Sally Foster advanced to the second day of the 2008 competition in January, and finished tied for 17th place overall among the 64 teams competing.
Additionally, Lewis and Foster finished fourth overall in the nation in the appellate brief writing portion of the competition. Student Christine Brigham received honorable mention as the 21th ranked individual orator in the competition out of 128 student competitors. |
