Category: Appellate Advocacy

Moot Court Association Names Participants in the 2021 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition

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The Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition is the appellate moot court competition for Marquette law students and is the capstone event of the intramural moot court program. Students are invited to participate based on their top performance in the fall Appellate Writing and Advocacy course at the Law School.

Congratulations to the participants in the 2021 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition:

Olanrewaju (Lanre) Abiola
Lauren Brasington
Carsyn Bushman
Zach Caley
Alexandra (Sasha) Chepov
Ashleigh Dickey
Ben Edelstein
Laura Federico
Jack Flack
Kyle Frank
Charlie Hoffmann
Rebecca Klongland
Josh Kundert
Kevin Landgraf
Josh Le Noble
Alex Lux
Morgan Minter
Natalie Mulvey
Greg Procopio
Matt Rademacher
Thomas Sucevic
Christopher Vandeventer
Taylor Van Zeeland
Zak Wroblewski

The Jenkins preliminary rounds begin March 20, 2021, with the winning teams progressing through the quarterfinals, then semifinals, to the final round. The final round will take place the week of April 5, 2021. All rounds will take place virtually. Stay tuned for more details.

Any questions about the competition should be directed to Kelsey Pelegrin, Associate Justice of Intramural Competitions.

Remembering Shirley S. Abrahamson: Wisconsin’s First Woman Supreme Court Justice

By: Posted on Categories Appellate Advocacy, Legal History, Legal Practice, Marquette Law School Poll, Moot Court, Public, Speakers at Marquette, Wisconsin Court System, Wisconsin Law & Legal System, Wisconsin Supreme CourtLeave a comment» on Remembering Shirley S. Abrahamson: Wisconsin’s First Woman Supreme Court Justice
Shirley Abrahamson with raised right hand, taking oath in 1976.
Shirley Abrahamson is sworn into the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1976 by late Chief Justice Bruce Beilfuss.

On Saturday, December 19, former Wisconsin Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson, died after battling pancreatic cancer. She was 87. Just two ways she was like another famous, short, tough, trailblazing Jewish jurist: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Abrahamson, the daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants who arrived in the United States in the early 1930s, grew up in New York City. She graduated magna cum laude from NYU with her bachelor’s degree in 1953. Three years later, she graduated first in her class from Indiana Law School; she was also the only woman.

She met her husband Seymour in Indiana; they moved to Madison in the early 1960s, where Abrahamson earned her S.J.D. from UW Law in 1962. Thereafter, she became the first female lawyer at the Madison law firm La Follette, Sinykin, Doyle & Anderson. She was named a partner within a year. All throughout the time she was in practice, she also taught at UW Law.

In 1976, then-Governor Patrick Lucey appointed her to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’ she was the first woman to serve there. Continue reading “Remembering Shirley S. Abrahamson: Wisconsin’s First Woman Supreme Court Justice”

Results of the Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition Final Round

By: Posted on Categories Appellate Advocacy, Legal Practice, Legal Writing, Marquette Law School, PublicLeave a comment» on Results of the Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition Final Round

Congratulations to the winners of the 2020 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition, Jay McDivitt and Mathias Rekowski. Congratulations also go to finalists Michelle Knapp and Wynetta McIntosh. A video of the final round is available here.

This year, Jay McDivitt won the Jenkins Competition’s Ramon A. Klitzke Prize for Best Oralist, and he and teammate Mathias Rekowski won the Franz C. Eschweiler Prize for Best Brief. Kelley Roach and Ashley Rossman were awarded second-place brief, and Xavier Jenkins and Wynetta McIntosh won third place in the briefing scores among the twelve teams in the competition. Continue reading “Results of the Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition Final Round”

NAAC Teams Collect Accolades in DC

By: Posted on Categories Appellate Advocacy, Legal Writing, Marquette Law School, Public2 Comments on NAAC Teams Collect Accolades in DC
3 law students posing in courthouse professional dress
Jake Rozema, Darrin Pribbernow, and Christin Saint Pierre at the NAAC Washington DC regionals.
3 law students posing in a courthouse in professional dress
Charlie Bowen, Julie Leary, and Alex Sterling at the NAAC Washington DC regionals

Thirty-two teams from across the country arrived in Washington, D.C. at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse on February 27, all prepared to present oral arguments in the National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) regional. Two Marquette Law teams were among those and both made their presence known. Continue reading “NAAC Teams Collect Accolades in DC”

Marquette Moot Court Association Names Participants in the 2020 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition

By: Posted on Categories Appellate Advocacy, Legal Education, Legal Writing, Marquette Law School, PublicLeave a comment» on Marquette Moot Court Association Names Participants in the 2020 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition

The Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition is the appellate moot court competition for Marquette law students and is the capstone event of the intramural moot court program. Students are invited to participate based on their top performance in the fall Appellate Writing and Advocacy course at the Law School.

Congratulations to the participants in the 2020 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition:

Adam Best
William Brookley
John Fuller
Kaitlyn Gradecki
Xavier Jenkins
Naomie Kipulu
Michelle Knapp
Nicholas Lubenow
Colleen Mandell
Jay McDivitt
Aleina McGettrick
Wynetta McIntosh
Marilyn McQuade
Tori Nanstad
Kelsey Pelegrin
Jessica Puetz
Annalisa Pusick
Mathias Rekowski
Kelley Roach
Ashley Rossman
Adam Roznowski
Lucas Schaetzel
Natalie Sobierajski
Foley Van Lieshout
Haley Wentz

The Jenkins preliminary rounds begin in March 2020, with the winning teams progressing through the quarterfinals, then semifinals, to the finals. All rounds are open to the public. Stay tuned for more information.

Marquette Teams Make Successful Showing at NMCC Regionals

By: Posted on Categories Appellate Advocacy, Legal Education, Marquette Law School, PublicLeave a comment» on Marquette Teams Make Successful Showing at NMCC Regionals
six students standing in law school
Marquette Law students who participated in the NMCC Region VIII competition (left to right): Kieran O’Day, Abby Hodgdon, Brooke Erickson, Kylie Owens, Micaela Haggenjos, and Kylie Kaltenberg.

Marquette University Law School hosted the Region VIII round of the 70th annual National Moot Court Competition on November 23-24, 2019. Both Marquette teams made successful showings.

Team members Kylie Kaltenberg, Abby Hodgdon, and Kieran O’Day advanced to the semifinal round before being eliminated after losing by less than one-half point. That team also had the third highest brief score* in the region. Professor Melissa Love Koenig advised the team, which was coached by attorneys Jason Luczak, Brianna Meyer (L’17), and Max Stephenson (L’13).

Brooke Erickson, Micaela Haggenjos, and Kylie Owens advanced to the quarterfinals before being eliminated after losing a close round to the other Marquette team. Professor Lisa Mazzie advised the team, and attorneys Bryn Baker (L’18), Chal Little (L’16), and Nicole Muller (L’18) coached the team.

Our attorney coaches are extremely dedicated and put in many hours of work with our students. We are lucky to have coaches who come back year after year. Our students benefit greatly from working with them. Our teams put in many hours of practice to prepare for the competition.

We are grateful for the time donated by the many judges and lawyers who judged the briefs and oral arguments for the NMCC Region VIII regionals. Moot Court Associate Justice Jake Rozema put in countless hours to ensure the competition ran as smoothly as it did. He was ably assisted by his committee, consisting of John Black, Colin Dunn, Danielle Gorsuch, Tyler Jochman, Peter Klepacz, Darrin Pribbernow, Alexander Sterling, Lucas Tabor, Brandie Tartza, and Caleb Tomaszewski. We appreciate the students who participated as bailiffs:  Alicia Bernards, Suzanne Caulfield, Vanessa Flores, Joshua Kundert, and Daniel Sievert. Continue reading “Marquette Teams Make Successful Showing at NMCC Regionals”

3L Moot Court Team Sweeps Preliminaries at Elon University Competition

By: Posted on Categories Appellate Advocacy, Legal Education, Legal Writing, Marquette Law School, Moot Court, Public1 Comment on 3L Moot Court Team Sweeps Preliminaries at Elon University Competition
Moot Court students in front of Elon Law sign
From left to right: Luis Gutierrez, Terreea Shropshire, and Nicholas Wanic

In Marquette Law’s first appearance at the Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition at Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, North Carolina, three Marquette Law students showed that Team Marquette is a force to be reckoned with.

Luis Gutierrez, Terreea Shropshire, and Nicholas Wanic were one of 40 teams at the competition. Though their brief was not one of the top two in the competition (the only ones awarded honors), they earned a high score that was nearly ten points above the median. Further, they won each of their three preliminaries rounds and advanced to the octofinals.

This competition had a tight turn-around time between problem release, brief deadline, and competition. All three team members stepped up and showed how hard work pays off. Professor Rebecca Blemberg served as the team’s faculty advisor and coach. Other coaches were Attorney Courtney Roelandts (L’18), who also accompanied the team to the competition, and Attorneys Jessica Delgado (L’19) and Sarita (Sadie) Olson (L’19), with Professor Lisa A. Mazzie assisting. Thank you, too, to Attorney Greg Helding (L’14), who served as guest judge.

Congratulations, team, on your accomplishments!