Moot court in 2012 certainly isn’t quite the same as it was for those of us in the Class of 1977. Indeed, moot court is as advanced and spectacularly nouveau as is Marquette Law’s remarkable new edifice: Eckstein Hall.

After five spinal fusion surgeries and two years in the Heart Transplant Program at the University of Miami Hospitals, I returned to MULS during late October 2011 to reconnect with my law school alma mater.

Dean Matt Parlow invited me to help Professor Melissa Greipp by using my 30 years of experience in appellate matters to coach MULS students in the national moot court teams. Professor Greipp welcomed me warmly, and this has been a most rewarding experience.

The positive, numerous expansions of the Marquette moot court program in 2012 are impressive. Permit me to compare briefly my experience in 1977 to the most recent 2012 Spong and Jenkins Honors Moot Court competitions.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 Jenkins Honors Moot Court Competition, Kristina Gordon and Sarah McNutt. Congratulations also go to finalists Ariane Strombom and Megan Zabkowicz.

Sarah McNutt won the Ramon A. Klitzke Prize for Best Oralist. Kristina Gordon and Sarah McNutt won the Franz C. Eschweiler Prize for Best Brief.

The competitors argued before a packed Appellate Courtroom, and the event was live-streamed into the Zilber Forum. 

Many thanks to the judges and competitors for their effort and enthusiasm in all the rounds of competition, as well as to the moot court executive board and Law School administration and staff for their work in putting on the event. Special thanks to Dean Kearney for his support of the competition.

Students are selected to participate in the competition based on their success in the fall Appellate Writing and Advocacy class at the Law School.

The Marquette team advanced to the octofinal round (top 16 teams) of the Evans A. Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition hosted by the University of Wisconsin Law School. Please congratulate team members Elizabeth Bronson and Jay Fenton. Professor Idleman advised the team. The team practitioner coaches were Attorneys Alexandra Grimley, Megann Senfleben, Sheila Shadman, and Nicole Willette.