University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Triumphs at 2008 CBA Moot Court Competition

The CBA’s Young Lawyers Section again sponsored its Annual Moot Court Competition on November 13-15, 2008, at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago. This year 18 law schools, from Chicago and around the Country sent 30 teams to participate in the Competition.  Chris Kenrick, Lisa Meerschaert, and John Murray, students of University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, were awarded “First Place” in the overall competition. The “Best Brief” award was presented to Megan Farrell, Marc Ladd and Michael Troha of St. John’s University School of Law and “Best Oralist” was presented to Lisa DeLong of Florida Coastal School of Law.

Barry Brotine of Matushek, Nilles and Sinars, LLC, Blake Shuart of McKay Nora & Tanzillo LLP and R. Andrew Smith of R.A. Smith, Ltd., chaired this year’s Competition. A fictional problem authored by Karla L. Bell and Sonja C. Rice asked the compelling question of whether a point-based admissions policy with a consideration for gender utilized by a public university withstands a Constitutional challenge under the 14^th Amendment Due Process Clause.   Students debated the topic from both sides of the issue, with the final round judges ultimately choosing the respondent as having the stronger argument. The Hon. Michael Panter, Hon. Joseph Panarese, and Hon. Martin Moltz and Hon. Jesse Reyes served as final round judges.

The YLS would like to thank Hon. E. Kenneth Wright Jr. for his continued support of the YLS as well as all of the attorneys and judges who generously devoted their time and worked together to make this year’s competition a success.