Moot Court Competitors Convene on Campus
A total of 64 teams from around the country came to Tulane University to compete as the Tulane Law School hosted the American Collegiate Moot Court Association's National Tournament on Jan. 14 and 15.
Susan Krinsky, associate dean at the Tulane Law School, congratulates Brett Harris, left, and Alex Harris, right, winners of the 2011 ACMA Moot Court Tournament hosted at Tulane University. They attend Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Va. (Photo by Tracie Morris Schaefer)
After winning their regional competitions, the teams and their coaches came from 28 different undergraduate colleges and universities. Over the two days of the tournament, the teams engaged in oral argument before three-judge panels composed of New Orleans lawyers and judges, many of them graduates of Tulane Law School, who volunteered to judge the rounds.
The fictional moot court tournament case addressed mandatory health care and same-sex marriage. After seven rounds of hearings, the final championship round took place before Fredericka Wicker, a 1977 law school graduate and judge of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, presiding as “chief justice” of the “Tulane Supreme Court,” along with Onnig Dombalagian, who is the George Denègre Associate Professor of Law at Tulane, and New Orleans attorney Tony DiLeo, a 1970 law school graduate.
“This was the first time Tulane has hosted the ACMA championships,” said Susan Krinsky, associate dean at Tulane Law School. “It was a great opportunity for us to showcase Tulane Law School and New Orleans to prospective law students from across the country.”
