Students Make Strong Showing at McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court

Minnesota Law students and teams fared well at the William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition in late February. The team of Jackie Fielding, 3L, Nadia Mezic, 2L, and Chuqiao Yu, 2L, finished among the top three briefs overall and advanced to the quarterfinals. Fielding also took home the Best Oral Advocate award for the entire competition. The other team, composed of 3Ls Jake Gray, Emily Franco, and Andrew Prunty, also made an excellent showing among a field of 26 teams from across the country. The teams were coached by Professor Jon Lee.

The William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition promotes interest in all areas of civil rights law and helps participating students develop the oral advocacy and writing skills essential to becoming successful appellate practitioners. Teams write briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court on a problem involving a recent case in the field of civil rights and argue the case at the competition.

The 2020 competition was held February 21-22 at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law campus in St. Paul.

Law School Hosts National Moot Court Regional, Performs Well in Competition

Minnesota Law hosted a regional round of the National Moot Court Competition late last fall. Thirteen teams from across a four-state region came to the Law School to compete in brief writing and oral advocacy.

Nearly 100 local attorneys, judges, and Law School alumni helped judge the oral arguments and the briefs. Minnesota Law’s two teams both did very well. The Respondent team (3Ls Chloe Margulis, Isabel McClure, and Nick Evans) won Best Respodent Brief and advanced to the quarterfinal round. This is the fourth consecutive year that Minnesota Law has won a Best Brief award.

The Petitioner team (3Ls Sarah Allen, Connor Shaull, and Kris Wathne) wrote the second-best petitioner brief. That team advanced to the championship round, losing narrowly to a team from Drake University Law School. Shaull won Best Oralist in the championship round—the second consecutive year that a Minnesota Law student has snagged the honor.

Andrew Leiendecker ’17, Kyle Hardwick ’13, and Kelsey Fuller ’18 are coaching this year’s teams.