Law students and faculty, local attorneys, judges and teams from ten participating law schools set the bar high for success at the 2008 National Moot Court Competition hosted by Regent University School of Law. The goal of the competition is to serve the law school community through the development of students' written and oral advocacy skills.
After two long days of competing, participants were honored at an awards banquet held at the Founders Inn.
"The teams that competed in this year's competition clearly devoted significant amounts of time and energy in their preparation," said Rich Wenner, Regent Law student and national competition coordinator. "A true team effort on behalf of the Moot Court Board, chaired by Regent Law student Seth Rhodebeck, made the competition a success. Dr. Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice gave selfless devotion to the competition."
At the banquet, Sekulow introduced the event's featured speaker — ABC News correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg. Greenburg has been with ABC News since 1994, providing legal analysis of the Supreme Court for all ABC News broadcasts.
Greenburg emphasized the critical role of justices in influencing law and cautioned against the danger of misrepresenting them through the media. She also spoke on how her recently published book, Supreme Conflict: the Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court, documents internal struggles of the court, particularly during the loss of critical Justices William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O' Connor.
"A new justice can make a new court and new alliances to influence law," Greenburg said. "To be able to represent a justice of a different ideology than yours is the chance for historic change."
Through the use of real-life examples found within the walls of the Supreme Court, Greenburg helped emphasize the importance of the Moot Court competition's mission — to foster the necessary skills in students to positively affect change in the courtroom.
The competition's winner was Roger Williams University School of Law from Bristol, R.I. Villanova University School of Law from Villanova, Pa. won best brief. Best oralist went to Marshall-Wythe Law School, College of William and Mary from Williamsburg, Va.
After two long days of competing, participants were honored at an awards banquet held at the Founders Inn.
"The teams that competed in this year's competition clearly devoted significant amounts of time and energy in their preparation," said Rich Wenner, Regent Law student and national competition coordinator. "A true team effort on behalf of the Moot Court Board, chaired by Regent Law student Seth Rhodebeck, made the competition a success. Dr. Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice gave selfless devotion to the competition."
At the banquet, Sekulow introduced the event's featured speaker — ABC News correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg. Greenburg has been with ABC News since 1994, providing legal analysis of the Supreme Court for all ABC News broadcasts.
Greenburg emphasized the critical role of justices in influencing law and cautioned against the danger of misrepresenting them through the media. She also spoke on how her recently published book, Supreme Conflict: the Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court, documents internal struggles of the court, particularly during the loss of critical Justices William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O' Connor.
"A new justice can make a new court and new alliances to influence law," Greenburg said. "To be able to represent a justice of a different ideology than yours is the chance for historic change."
Through the use of real-life examples found within the walls of the Supreme Court, Greenburg helped emphasize the importance of the Moot Court competition's mission — to foster the necessary skills in students to positively affect change in the courtroom.
The competition's winner was Roger Williams University School of Law from Bristol, R.I. Villanova University School of Law from Villanova, Pa. won best brief. Best oralist went to Marshall-Wythe Law School, College of William and Mary from Williamsburg, Va.