Regent Law’s moot court teams continue to be a powerhouse on the ABA competition circuit, with recent strong showings at both the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Regional Competition held March 7-8 in Washington, D.C ., and the ABA Regional Mediation Competition held February 28 - March 1, in Durham, NC.At the Appellate Advocacy Competition, Regent’s team of Jeremy Spitzer, Rachel Williams, and Tiffany Barrans advanced to the final round, defeating teams from William & Mary, UVA, Liberty, and South Carolina law schools and narrowly losing to a team from American University.
Regent’s second team of Melissa Hudgins, Aaron Casavant, and Aaron McDonnell advanced to the semifinal round, where they narrowly lost a close contest to a team from South Texas that ultimately advanced to the national competition.
“I am very proud of this showing,” team coach and Regent Law professor Mike Hernandez said. “The teams worked exceptionally hard and represented our school well.”
At the ABA Regional Mediation Competition, Regent’s team of Brooke Bialke and Ben Willis advanced to the final round with an overall second place finish. Under the coaching of Professors Alice Curtis and Kathleen McKee, Bialke and Willis finished undefeated and in first place after the preliminary rounds, losing by one point in the final round to the team from University of Richmond.“It was a privilege to compete against the Richmond team, which was professional and well prepared. The final round was a tough match; while losing by one point is disappointing, Ben and I walked away with positive feedback from some of the best mediators in the region and a wonderful skills boost,” said Bialke.
The strength of Regent Law’s moot court programs was further seen in the success of Liberty University School of Law, which advanced from the Appellate Advocacy Regional Competition to the National Competition in Chicago.
Liberty’s team coach and professor Scott Thompson is a Regent Law alumnus and past moot court competitor.
“I can say with complete sincerity that our teams are what they are because of the training and experience that I got while at Regent,” Thompson said. “He [Professor Hernandez] should view the members of this team of mine as his grandchildren since he is the person that coached and groomed me; and beyond grooming me while I was student, offered me great encouragement on a number of occasions during this tournament.”
Regent and Liberty’s shared commitments to Christ were a source of encouragement at the competitions, and underscore each school’s commitments to integrity and cooperative competition.