Colorado Appellate Advocacy Competition
Colorado Appellate Advocacy Competition (CAAC) is CU's annual intraschool moot court competition for 2Ls and 3Ls. A total of 75 2Ls and 3Ls participated in this year's competition held October 3, 2014, of which 37 advanced to semifinals. The top 12 were then selected as members of the 2015 - 2016 Barristers' Council and advanced to finals. Participants briefed and argued two First Amendment issues: (1) Whether a particular proposition passed by popular vote in a state poses an undue burden on a woman's fundamental right to pursue an abortion pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment, and (2) whether a proposition limiting the information a physician can provide their patient regarding abortion violates the physician's rights under the First Amendment.
The following students were awarded the top three honors based on performance in the first round.
Best Brief: John Michael Guevara
Honorable Mention Briefs: Holly Leesser, Elias Thomas
Best Oralist: Abby Harder
Honorable Mention Oralists: Jennifer Sisk, Lauren Concepcion
Best Overall: Holly Leesser
Honorable Mention Overall: Shalyn Kettering, William Davidson
Also, the following 12 students were selected as finalists and named to the Moot Court Division of Barristers' Council for the 2014-2015 school year.
Cole Woodward
James Wilson
Jennifer Sisk
Kate Mattern
Lauren Concepcion
James Waldo
Karthik Venkatraj
Sara Maeglin
Alex Featherstone
Holly Leesser
Charlie Testa
Shalyn Kettering
Of the finalists, the following six students were chosen to represent Colorado Law on the 2015-2016 National Moot Court teams.
Team Ralphie:
James Wilson
Lauren Concepcion
Sara Maeglin
Team Buff:
Jennifer Sisk
Charlie Testa
Kate Mattern
Carrigan Cup
The Carrigan Cup is the premier annual intraschool mock trial competition for 2Ls and 3Ls. This year, nearly 60 student “attorneys” and witnesses participated, and were evaluated by over 40 practicing judges and attorneys from across Colorado. Two guaranteed rounds were held on Saturday, October 11, and semi-final and quarter-final rounds were held on Sunday, October 12. The final round was argued before a distinguished three judge panel, consisting of Federal District Court Chief Judge Marcia Krieger, Greenberg Traurig Co-President Brian Duffy, and co-creator and donor of the Schaden Chair and Experiential Learning & Public Service Programs, Richard F. Schaden, on Monday, October 13.
Teams of 2L’s competed against teams of 3L’s, including teams consisting of current members of the National Mock Trial Team. The competition was intense, and each team put on an impressive display of trial advocacy skills.
The following students are recognized for their special accomplishments during the competition:
2014 Carrigan Cup Honorable Mention:
Matthew George, Jamie Keairns
2014 Carrigan Cup Quarterfinalists:
Kathryn Mattern, James Waldo
Erica Kasemodel, Edison McDaniels
Paul Janda, Emilyn Winkelmeyer
Conor Stewartson, Charles Testa
2014 Carrigan Cup Semifinalists:
Nichole Cristee, Michael Fox
Ruthanne Goff, Justin Miller
2014 Carrigan Cup Finalists:
Vika Chandrashekar, Conor Flanigan
2014 Carrigan Cup Winners:
Megan Bradford, Rosa Trembour
Colorado Law Wins National Moot Court Competition Regional
Colorado Law’s Moot Court national teams traveled to Region 11’s competition for the Regional Round of the nation’s most prestigious moot court competition—The National Moot Court Competition sponsored by the New York City Bar and the American College of Trial Lawyers.
The moot court teams argued two issues: 1) whether the preemptive strike of a perspective juror from the venire on the basis of perceived homosexuality violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and 2) whether the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act requires that anticompetitive conduct have a “direct effect” on or a “reasonably foreseeable causal nexus” with American commerce to constitute a violation of the Sherman Act.
The two Colorado Law teams advanced to the final round of the competition where they faced one another in an epic moot court showdown.
Colorado Law’s team of Kevin Blake, Cayla Crisp, and Alex White argued on behalf of the Petitioner in the final round and finished in Second Place. They also took home the “Best Brief” award for the competition.
The other Colorado Law team of Mike Havlik, Zach Sigel, and Abbey Wallach represented the Respondent in the finals and took First Place. Zach Siegel was awarded the competition’s Best Oral Advocate Award, arguing the Respondent side of the antitrust issue.
Wallach, Havlik, and Siegel will travel to New York City in February to represent Region 11 at Nationals. Both teams were coached by Professor Gabrielle Stafford.
