Georgia Law wins best brief and finishes in top 16 at ABA Appellate Advocacy Competition

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 Writer: Heidi Murphy, 706/583-5487, hmurphy@uga.edu; Contact: Kellie Casey, 706/542-2739, krcasey@uga.edu Georgia Law advocacy teams sweep intrastate competition and finish strong in three others Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia School of Law students recently captured all of the top positions at the Intrastate Moot Court Competition, which pits two teams from each of the state’s five law schools against each other. This is the eighth consecutive year Georgia Law has won this tournament and the 10th its students have authored the best brief. Second-year law students Yasmine S. Antoine, Adam J. Fitzsimmons and Allison L. Hill were named competition champions, while second-year law students David B. Dove, Clayton O. Clay Knowles and Emily K. Westberry finished as finalists. These teams also won first and second place for the tournament’s best brief, respectively, and Knowles was named the competition\u27s best overall oralist. “I am just so proud of these teams,” Advocacy Director Kellie Casey said. “They worked really hard and had the added pressure of continuing Georgia’s dominance in this competition for state bragging rights.” Third-year students Kori E. Flake and Amina Bakari helped coach both teams. On the national scene, second-year law students Margaret E. Maggy Randels, Utrophia D. Robinson and Alexandria E. Seay won the Best Brief Award at the American Bar Association Law Student Division National Appellate Advocacy Competition, which is one of the largest and more prestigious moot court tournaments in the country that routinely has more than 200 teams competing. The Georgia Law team finished the contest among the top 16 teams nationally, after capturing first place at the regional level. Third-year students Emily A. Cook and Rory A. Weeks helped coach the team. Georgia Law students were named quarterfinalists at the Second Annual South Texas Mock Trial Challenge. More than 40 teams from law schools nationwide competed in this tournament, with third-year law students Jasmine A. Dixon, Michael C. Gretchen, Scott F. McAfee and C. Elizabeth Stell finishing among the top eight teams. Gretchen was named the Best Advocate in the Preliminary Rounds, an honor a Georgia Law student has won the past two years. Additionally, UGA had a top eight finish at the Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Moot Court Competition. Second-year law students Kenneth J. Ken Bentley, Antoinette A. Newberry and Steven L. Strasberg competed against 36 other teams from across the country. Third-year student Mary Beth Martinez helped coach this trio. Casey said it has been a great year for the law school’s Advocacy Program. “We finished with two national championships, two regional trophies and one state title. All of our teams put in a lot of time and effort. Also, there was tremendous support from our faculty – including Thomas Burch – and numerous alumni who helped to prepare all of our teams for victory by judging multiple practice rounds. I could not be more proud.” #