from staff
Florida Coastal School of Law’s Moot Court team won its second statewide competition for the summer at the E. Zehmer Moot Court Competition in Orlando last week.
Earlier this summer the school’s Moot Court team won the Orseck Moot Court Competition, which is the state’s most prestigious moot court competition. This is the third year a moot court team from Florida Coastal won the Orseck competition.
The Zehmer competition is a state-wide competition that also draws teams from other law schools in the southeast and beyond.
According to a press release, Florida Coastal’s team advanced to the final round of the competition three of the past four years, taking the title twice. This year’s team beat teams from The University of Florida, Florida State University, Stetson, Nova and Charleston School of Law.
“Our student teams have a great work ethic in preparing for these competitions,” said Sander Moody, a professor at Florida Coastal and the Moot Court Honor Board faculty advisor. “It is great to see that hard work consistently pays off in a big way.”
In addition to placing first in the overall competition, Florida Coastal also came away with several individual awards. Team members Jamica Littles earned the Best Advocate Award and Ryan Trumm received the Best Brief Award, which recognizes superior legal writing skills.
“This is a great reward after all of the weeks of preparation that went into this competition,” said Florida Coastal School of Law Dean Peter Goplerud. “Our students worked very hard for this and they certainly deserve it.”
At the competition, teams are given a controversial legal issue involving worker’s compensation. The finals took place before Judges Robert T. Benton II, and L. Clayton Roberts of Florida’s First District Court of Appeal. Earlier this summer Florida Coastal won a moot court competition where the finals were judged by the Supreme Court of Florida.
“The success of our team speaks to our students’ high level of ability,” said Moody, who also served as the team coach. “Coastal Law has a lot to be proud of.”
A second Florida Coastal team, with oralists Jen Kernan and Nelly Fitzpatrick and brief writer David Daugherty, reached the semi-finals at the Zehmer competition. Daugherty earned Best Brief, Runner-up Award honors.