Marquette’s environmental law moot court team, consisting of 3Ls Alana Borman, Thais Marques, and Grady Rosin, traveled to New York in late February to represent the Law School at the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (NELMCC) hosted by Pace University in White Plains, New York. Several months of grueling preparation paid major dividends at the competition, as the team performed extremely well across a variety of metrics. Out of more than 50 teams competing, the Marquette team’s brief was ranked second overall, and after three preliminary rounds of oral argument, the Marquette team was ranked fourth. Ultimately, the team advanced to the quarterfinals before falling in a tightly contested match.

Afterwards, Alana, Thais, and Grady reflected on the journey. “Writing an appellate brief with my teammates and advocating for the three different parties in the lawsuit at oral arguments was an intense, complex, and creative way of wrapping up my last year of law school,” said Marques. “I am sure I will look back at this experience with pride.”

Rosin summed it up this way: “The competition was a great way to cap off our brief writing and oral argument practice. We performed well and were able to meet many like-minded students and connect over the shared law school experience.”

Borman added, “NELMCC gave me an opportunity to litigate an environmental issue, an opportunity I would not have had without this competition. The competition solidified my desire to help the environment. I will bring this experience into my practice as I graduate in May. I hope every student has this same opportunity to grow in their law school career, especially at the NELMCC competition.”

The team also thanked practitioner-coaches Tressie Kamp and Dennis Grzezinski, as well as Professor Sarah Fox and Professor Christine Chabot, all of whom helped prepare the team for the competition.

Congratulations, team!