School of Law: Moot Court Team Finishes Year with Best Oralist Award
Moot Court Team Finishes Year with Best Oralist Award
2L Catherine Tatum received the Best Oralist Award at the Federal Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall National Moot Court Competition on March 29-30 in Washington, D.C.
Tatum received the award for outstanding achievement in her oral advocacy skills. About 70 other law students participated in the competition.
Tatum also won the School of Law’s Walter H. Rice Intraschool Moot Court Competition last fall.
This is the second consecutive year a Dayton Law student has won the Best Oralist Award at the Federal Bar Association's competition. Last year, Chris Bagi received the honor.
Tatum teamed with Laura Kloimwieder in the national competition. David J. Ziemba, chief justice of the School of Law’s Moot Court Board, coached the team.
Two of the school’s moot court teams advanced to at least the round of eight in tournaments this spring.
The team of Sia Zois and Thomas Kopacz reached the semifinals of the inaugural National Professional Responsibility Moot Court Competition at Indiana University’s McKinney School of Law.
Zois was named the competition's fifth best oralist.
Joanna Lenefonte and Meghan Nugent reached the quarterfinals in the John J. Gibbons National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition at Seton Hall University School of Law.
In addition, three other teams represented the School of Law in tournaments around the country.
Edward Fisher and Nick Jerde competed in the 20th annual Honorable Conrad B. Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition at St. John’s University School of Law.
Steve Allhoff and Ben Christoff participated in the Chicago regional of the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial National Moot Court Competition, sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
Melissa Koppenhoefer and Nathan Welch competed in the Manfred Lachs International Institute of Space Law Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C.
Other Moot Court News
For the first time in more than a decade, five Dayton Law students have been nominated and accepted in the Order of the Barristers. The Order of the Barristers is a national law school honorary given to students who have excelled and showed commitment to advocacy and appellate practice.
The students are Moot Court Board members: David Ziemba, chief justice; Diane Frederick, associate justice of administration; Jonathan Hall, associate justice of extramural competitions; D.J. Swearingen, associate justice of intramural competitions; and Spencer Germann, associate justice of intramural competitions. All are third-year students expected to graduate in May.
The students join 168 other Dayton Law alumni in the Order of the Barristers.
In addition, third-year students will compete in a moot court competition, the National Moot Court Competition in November. “Third-year students participating in competitions is general practice at nearly every law school in the country,” Ziemba said, “UDSL has traditionally only sent second-year students to compete at moot court tournaments, which makes our successes even more outstanding. UDSL Moot Court is looking forward to competing against the best of the best next academic year.”
In addition, the School of Law committed to host a regional round of the National Moot Court Competition in the future.