Moot Court
In an impressive display of written and oral skills, the student team from Empire College School of Law was awarded First Place in "Brief Writing," Second Place in "Excellence in Appellate Advocacy," and Third Place in "Oral Arguments" at the Roger J. Traynor Appellate Moot Court competition held at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall. Thirteen California Law Schools competed on April 14 and 15 including UC Berkeley, USF, UCLA, UC Davis and Hastings.
The Empire Team - fourth-year law student Lorraine Cleff and third-year law students Chris Brown and Kristin Long - demonstrated a remarkable balance of knowledge by receiving awards in each category. In addition, team member Kristin Long was recognized for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Oral Argument."
The students were required to analyze an actual case involving an automobile accident in which the plaintiff suffered personal injuries, including a fractured vertebra. On behalf of their client, the Empire Team argued that there was no jury or attorney misconduct. Therefore they requested the reviewing court to uphold the jury verdict in favor of their client. Hundreds of hours of legal research and writing were necessary to prepare this award-winning brief, which consisted of 32 pages setting forth arguments on behalf of the respondent.
The briefs were scored by practicing appellate attorneys who are members of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. The final round of oral arguments were judged by Justices Carol A. Corrigan, Joseph R. Groden, and Carl W. Anderson. Each competing law school sends its best and brightest. Empire's team faced outstanding competition from Hastings in the morning round and from Western State in the afternoon.
"I cannot say enough about the hard work of these three students and their coach Rachel Nunes," stated Pat Broderick, Dean of Empire College School of Law. "The organizers of the Traynor competition were very complimentary of the continuous success by Empire teams."
While preparing their legal briefs and attending oral argument practices, the team members were also required to keep up with their law school studies and attend to their jobs and families. Ms. Cleff is a married mother who gave birth to her daughter one week before finals. Ms. Long is a law clerk with the Sonoma County Public Defender. Mr. Brown works at the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office.
Empire's Moot Court Team trophied in all categories at the 2007 California Moot Court Competition. Competing against 12 other law schools (including Hastings, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USF and UC Davis), they perpetuate Empire's tradition of excellence.
"We are very appreciative of the participation of the Sonoma County Judiciary and the generosity of allowing us to use actual court rooms for the practices." - Dean Broderick
