11/11/05

Baylor law students distinguished themselves at prestigious moot court contests in Texas and California recently.

In Austin, three students were ranked among the top five oral advocates at the Administrative Law Moot Court Competition held during the weekend in Austin.

Sponsored annually by the Administrative and Public Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, the contest was based on a real case involving the revocation of a doctor’s license. Texas judges and attorneys evaluated the students’ courtroom performances.

Kristin Burns was honored as the top oral advocate in the overall competition, and Katie Sweeten and Jennifer Job also finished in the top five. The Baylor team of Katie Sweeten and Keith Gee finished third in the competition, which involved 16 teams from the various Texas law schools. Other members of the highly ranked Baylor squad were Justin Hill and Brad Robinson.

Adjunct Professor Kathy Serr, who coached the Baylor students, commended them on their impressive showing at the contest. "They are to be congratulated on their hard work and fine performance on behalf of Baylor Law School," she said.

In San Diego, Calif., Baylor’s National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Team members—Dustin Benham, Chris Farenthold, Joe Hoelscher, and Lara Pringle—also represented the Law School in fine style. Team coach, Professor Rory Ryan, said, "These students deserve thanks and accolades for their achievements and efforts."

He said both of Baylor’s teams prevailed in the opening rounds and reached the quarterfinals, placing Baylor among a select group of schools that saw both of their teams advance. Benham and Pringle earned high marks in both the opening rounds and the quarterfinals, and narrowly missed advancing to the semifinals.

Farenthold and Hoelscher prevailed in the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinals, Ryan said. "They won their semifinal match against the University of Arkansas and advanced to the final round, where they argued before a distinguished panel, including Judge Ruggero Aldisert, senior United States Circuit Judge, Third Circuit, and Justice Richard Huffman, associate justice, California Court of Appeals. Congratulations to Chris and Joe for bringing home second-place honors," he said.

Ryan said a total of 32 teams from 20 law schools schools participated in the contest, which involved a mock appellate argument before the United States Supreme Court. "The appeal contained two issues: whether the Fourth Amendment applies to illegal aliens; and under what circumstances the police can invoke the inevitable-discovery exception to the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule," he said.

Judges and lawyers from the San Diego area judged the competition, which was sponsored by The University of San Diego School of Law Appellate Moot Court Board.

 

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