When student Jaelin Kinney ’24 (pictured) delivered the opening statement at the Byrne Trial Advocacy Team’s end-of-year exhibition trial last week, it was the coda on a phenomenal year for LLS moot court and trial advocacy teams – including the Byrne Team’s own recent semi-finalist honors at the prestigious Battle of the Experts Trial Competition and National Trial Competition. LLS leads the field in trial advocacy with teams named champions of more than 100 competitions and consistently ranked in the top 10 among trial advocacy programs nationally. A few highlights from this academic year include:
The moot court team of Benjamin Shin ’24 and Ezequiel Gurule ’24 were declared champions of the Roger J. Traynor Moot Court Competition, a nationally recognized appellate moot court competition focused exclusively on California law. This year’s competition included 60 advocates from 20 California law schools. The LLS team was unbeaten in all rounds of the competition and advanced to the championship round. The team also won the Roger J. Traynor Award for Oral Argument; Excellence in Appellate Advocacy Award; and more. The team was coached by Albert Sheen ’12 and Jessica Vogel ’12.
The inaugural National Sports Moot Court Team of Stephanie Lamb ’24, Dante Matera ’24, and Shannon Skrzynski ’24 competed in the Tulane Mardi Gras Moot Court Invitational competition, the only annual moot court appellate competition focusing on contemporary legal problems confronting the sports industry. The team traveled to New Orleans and argued in the courtrooms of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Although the team missed advancing to the semi-finals by one ballot, Shannon Skrzynski won best petitioner oralist for the competition besting students from 25 teams across the county. The team was coached by Stefanie Yee ’16.
Meanwhile, the Latinx Law Student Association team of Evelyn Escamilla ’24, Christopher Luna ’24, and Denise Mungia-Salazar ’24 competed against teams from 29 other law schools in the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Uvaldo Hererra Moot Court competition in Phoenix. LLS’ team advanced to the final, eighth round of the oral argument portion of the competition. The team also won the best respondents’ brief, an honor with a $3,000 scholarship award. The team was coached by Monique Alarcon ’16; Professor Gary Williams served as the team’s faculty advisor.
Elsewhere, LLS’ ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition teams including Carolyn Carey ’24, David Mgeryan ’24, Daniel Clarke ’23, Alice Gilbert ’23, Tiffany-Paige Hernandez ’23, and Victoria Molinari ’24 competed in the regional section of the competition held in the Los Angeles Federal Courthouse before experienced practitioners and judges serving as mock panels of the U.S. Supreme Court. The ABA competition is the largest competitive moot court competition in the country, with over 220 teams competing. The team of Carey, Mgeryan, and Clarke won third-best brief and made it to the final round of regionals, losing by one ballot. The team was coached by Alex Ray ’13 and Dalmacio Posadas, Jr. ’17.
LLS’ Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition team of Amy Ribar ’24 and Lizabeth Arias ’24 competed in the 2023 Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition in Washington D.C. as part of the Federal Bar Association’s Leadership Summit. The team advanced to the Round of 16 and narrowly missed advancing to the quarterfinals. The oral argument was held in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The team was coached by Ali Piane ’22.
