Regent Law News

Congratulations to Regent Law's trial team of Michael Sylvester, Arielle Poe, Molly Banas, and Marcus Mitchell, who won the National Pretrial Competition at Stetson University School of Law. Out of 15 teams from across the country, the team ended 5-0. Regent Law alum Drew Page ('10), who serves as an Adjunct Professor for trial practice at Regent, coached this team of talented advocates. L to R:  Michael Sylvester, Molly Banas, Coach Drew Page, Arielle Poe, and Marcus Mitchell The National Pretrial Competition captures what attorneys do every day in offices and courtrooms across the nation. This year's problem involved a motion to dismiss and motion to suppress in a criminal matter before a fictional federal district court. The motion to dismiss was a moot court style argument while the motion to suppress required an evidentiary hearing with witnesses and closing argument. “I am moved by the reports I received as to how well they represented the very essence o...

On Nov. 4-5, Regent Law's Moot Court Board had the pleasure of hosting the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament of the American Moot Court Association's annual undergraduate competition. Students in the Regent University Debate Association (RUDA) from the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) registered five teams, two of which earned third and fourth place in the regional competition. Three students, Alexandria Cross, Ronald Pantalena, and Christopher Mateer, received top-10 speaker awards. Competitors came to the annual tournament at Regent from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia, George Washington University, James Madison University, Bridgewater College, Patrick Henry College, and Liberty University. Judges determined speaker awards based on knowledge of case facts, legal reasoning, and the manner in which contestants presented themselves while facing pressure from judges. Points were awarded in these categories and then aggregated. Daniel R...

Competition: Ninth Annual National Pre-Trial Competition Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida October 14–16, 2016 Team: Team:  Daniel Waters ('17), Julianna Battenfield ('17), Alison Haefner ('17), Elizabeth Berry ('18), and Justin Burch ('17) Coach:  Professor James Metcalfe Results: Second place in the competition out of sixteen teams, coming out ahead of teams from law schools such as University of Miami School of Law, Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and Texas Tech University School of Law. Second Best Brief in the competition for Prosecution Second Best Brief for Combined Memoranda. “Regent Law strives to develop three general legal skills: writing, advocacy and strenuous academics,” said  Daniel Waters ('17) . “This competition required excellence in all three of those areas.” Waters said his favorite part of competing is proving his team’s great writing and advocating skills. “Consistently at all competitions, judges say [we] are curre...

Named after the late former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, Leroy R. Hassell, Sr., the Moot Court Board hosted its 16th annual constitutional law competition on October 14-15, 2016. Directed by Samuel Walsh, the competition hosted 24 teams from across the nation—only one team short from becoming a tier two competition for the very first time. Not only is this an unprecedented amount, but it's also the furthest reaching with new and returning schools coming from as far as Florida, Texas, and California. Moreover, the final panel of judges was graced by the presence of 4 State Supreme Court Justices from Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Lucille Wall, this year's Chairwoman, said, "Regent Law's Moot Court Board was honored to host such a talented group of oral advocates at this year's Hassell National Moot Court Competition. Not only was the group of students participating diverse and well prepared, they were also excellent advocates who argued ...

Competition: National Pretrial Competition Oct. 13-16, 2016 Stetson University College of Law Florida The competition involved an indictment of a sitting member of Congress on charges of conspiracy to defraud the IRS through the use of stolen personal information to file fraudulent claims for income tax refunds, 18 USC 371, and ten counts of identity fraud, 18 USC 1028(a)(7). The indictment also charged 11 members of a violent gang with the conspiracy and theft of public money charges and various members of the gang with allegedly related Hobbs Act, Use of Interstate Facilities in Commission of Murder for Hire, and felon in possession of firearms charges. The pretrial motions were to suppress evidence obtained from a private "cloud" account, to prevent two expert witnesses from testifying, and for a change in venue or in the alternative, severance of the member of Congress's charges for a separate trial. Each side called two witnesses at the hearing. Team: Team:  Daniel W...

Competition: Robert Merhige National Environmental Law Competition March 18 - March 20, 2016 University of Richmond Virginia Team: Team: Jessica Rigsbee and Chelsea Harkins  Coach: Professor Eric DeGroff Results: 1 of the 4 teams that advanced to the semi finals. They placed second in the competition.

Featured here with the Associate Justice of the Charleston Moot Court Board Competition: March 18-19, 2016 South Carolina Team: Team: Glenn Reynolds ’16, Courtney Marasigan ’17, and Alexandra McPhee ’17  Coach: Assistant Professor Tessa Dysart  Results: Placed first at the Charleston School of Law National Moot Court Competition. Reynolds earned the title “best oralist” for the final round of the competition. Scored fourth Best Brief overall Won Best Oralist award of the final round

Renee Knudsen, Andrew Butler, Kathleen Knudsen March 18-19, 2016 Seton Hall University School of Law New Jersey Congratulations to the Gibbons team for finishing as quarterfinalists! With their two oralist awards and quarterfinalist finish, the Gibbons team brought home 11 points towards Regent's overall moot court ranking for this year. “The excellent performances of our moot court and negotiations teams this past weekend continue our track record over the past two decades of outstanding skills training and student performances,” said Michael Hernandez, dean of the School of Law. “I am proud of our teams and their faculty coaches, who are outstanding representatives of Regent Law and our Center for Advocacy.” Regent’s team achieved the title of “quarterfinalists” at the J. Gibbons Moot Court Competition at Seton Hall Law in Newark, New Jersey. Kathleen Knudsen ’16, Renee Knudsen ’16, and Andrew Butler ’16 were coached by Professor James Duane. R. Knudsen earned the title of “best ...

Battling 44 teams and 88 competitors, Regent University undergraduate students took the top three places in the Moot Court Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament November 6 and 7 at Regent University. These top teams will go on to compete in a national tournament at California State University at Long Beach. Eight teams from Regent competed in the tournament. Five of these teams placed within the top 16. Two Regent students received top-five speaker awards. Michael Maunder received second and Abigail Lisa received fourth. Marie Dienhart, a third-year law student in Regent’s School of Law, coached the team to success. " Regent Law's Moot Court Board enjoyed hosting the ACMA Competition to foster the appellate advocacy skills of aspiring law students," said 3L Matthew Dunckley,Vice Chairman and Legal Research Director of Regent Law's Moot Court Board.  Learn more about the American Collegiate Moot Court Competition > By Brennan Smith