²ÝÁñÉçÇø

MOOT COURT

Moot Court Board

°Õ³ó±ðÌýMurphy Family Endowed Moot Court BoardÌýis the principal oral advocacy organization at ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Law.Ìý

The Moot Court Board aims to enhance and showcase the appellate advocacy skills of our students.ÌýMembers have the opportunity to showcase their appellate advocacy and writing skills by competing in various national competitions. Students argue cases involving constitutional law, criminal procedure, sports law, entertainment law, family law, immigration law and more in front of distinguished panels of judges against law students from around the country.

ABOUT THE BOARD

Executive Board

Max Farrell Ìý- Chairperson
Michael Lambert – Vice Chairperson
Wyatt Ansel – Reimel Administrator
Brianna Cooper – Reimel Administrator
Maria Elisa Escobar – Director of External Competition
Gavin Tamer – Director of External Competition
Arielle Jackson – Director of Recruitment, Retention & Inclusion

Board Members

Andrew BeckerÌý
Ted Bolte
Allison Jedrzejek
Annie LanghauserÌý
Amisha MirchandaniÌý
Trishual PatelÌý
Reagyn PowersÌý
Jacob RothÌý
Claire SprangÌý
Phoebe TuiteÌý
Easton WarnerÌý
Camryn Williams-BabuÌý
Seth WinigradÌý

Chairperson

The chairperson manages all members of the ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Law Moot Court Board. The chairperson acts as the point-person between the Moot Court Board and the greater law school and administration. Additionally, the chairperson oversees all planning, coordination, expenditures and communication for the internal competition, external competitions and additional extracurriculars.

Vice Chairperson

The vice chairperson assists the chairperson and all other executive board members to successfully complete their tasks. The vice chairperson frequently acts as an intermediary for the chairperson, other executive board members and other Moot Court board members, keeping the communication and relationships among the board strong.ÌýAdditionally, the vice chairpersonÌýmaintains relationships with the Moot Court Board's alumni, assists with organizing alumni events and connects current members with alumni in their interested fields."

External Competition Coordinators

The external competition coordinators are responsible for organizing the Moot Court Board’s participation in competitions across the country, including submitting applications, organizing travel and determining who competes at which competitions. The external competition coordinators also play a role in judging the summer competition and determining the pairing and coaching assignments.

Reimels Administrators

The ReimelsÌýadministrators work with Professor Jessica Webb and coordinate her fall LW3–Litigation/Appellate Advocacy course with the Moot Court Board's Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition. °Õ³ó±ðÌýReimels administratorsÌýare in charge of not only the logistics of the competition but also grading competitor briefs, providing feedback to Professor Webb on the competition problem prior to the fall semester and engaging with students in the 2L class competing in the competition.

Director of Recruitment, Retention and Inclusion

The director of recruitment, retention and inclusion plans, executes and overseesÌýthe administration of the annual summer competition—the primary means to gain membership to the Moot Court Board. Additionally, the director plans and executes events aimed at promoting Board unity and retention. The director also oversees the Moot Court Board's DEI Committee and directs all diversity andÌýinclusion initiatives to recruit diverse members and engage with ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Law's various affinity groups.

Students can attain membership on the Moot Court Board in one of two ways:

  1. Competing in the annual Moot Court Summer Competition; or
  2. Stellar performance in the intra-school Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition.

Summer Competition

The Director of Recruitment and Alumni Relations organizes a competition for rising 2L and 3L students to compete for membership on the Moot Court Board. Each competitor writes an appellate brief and argues on-brief in front of the Executive Board, a panel of five members. The oral argument is 12 minutes and is followed by a short interview. The brief and oral argument are each worth 50% of the overall competition score. The Moot Court Board selects approximately 10-12 new members from this competitive process. Although students may try out for Moot Court Board and the ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Law Review write-on, students who join Moot Court Board cannot jalso join a journal. Ìý

Reimel Competition

The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Board may decide to extend an invitation for Membership on the Moot Court Board after stellar performance in the Reimel Competition. The Moot Court Board may choose to select one competitor in a team or both partners in a team. This decision is made after considering a team’s brief score, oral argument performance and advancement in the competition.Ìý

First-Year Member Responsibilities:

  • Compete in Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition in the Fall
    All first-year Moot Court board members are required to compete in the fall intraschool competition in preparation for their spring outside competitions. The first-year Moot Court board members participate in the intraschool competition in tandem with enrollment in the LW3–Litigation/Appellate Advocacy course with Professor Webb.ÌýÌý
  • Compete in External Competitions in the Spring
    Each first-year Moot Court board member competes with a partner at a national moot court competition. The Moot Court board members are tasked with competing against other schools’ Moot Court teams at national competitions hosted by various law schools. Competing in an external competition will require members to write an appellate brief and argue before distinguished panels of judges.
  • Assist with the 1L Legal Writing Program in the Spring
    The Moot Court Board helps the first-year legal writing faculty members administer and judge the first-year law students’ spring semester oral arguments. Each Moot Court board member provides constructive feedback to first-year students to assist in preparation for their graded arguments.

Second-Year Member Responsibilities:

  • Mentor First-Year Board Members Throughout the Year
    Each second-year Moot Court board member will mentor a first-year member throughout the year. The mentor will help their mentee review strategies for improvement, provide general advice, check in on the mentee’s mental health and well-being and provide a strong support system.
  • Compete in External Competitions in the Fall or Spring
    Each Moot Court board member competes with a partner at a national Moot Court competition. The Moot Court board members are tasked with competing against other schools’ Moot Court teams at national competitions hosted by various law schools. Competing in an external competition will require members to write an appellate brief and argue before distinguished panels of judges.
  • Coach First-Year Members in External Competitions in the Spring
    Each second-year Moot Court board member competes and serves as a student coach for a first-year or second-year team. Coaches organize oral argument practice schedules and coordinate with faculty, alumni and subject matter experts to assist with judging practice rounds in order to best prepare the Moot Court board members for their competitions.
  • Assist with the 1L Legal Writing Program in the Spring
    The Moot Court Board helps the first-year legal writing faculty members administer and judge the first-year law students’ spring semester oral arguments. Each Moot Court board member provides constructive feedback to first-year students to assist in preparation for their graded arguments.

Ìý Ìý Ìý

COMPETITIONS

Each year, the Moot Court Board competes in ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Law's annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition as well as a number of external competitions.

2023 Reimel Moot Court Competition winners, Daniel Rooney ’25 and Jillian Updegraff ’25, pictured with the final round judges

°Õ³ó±ðÌýTheodore L. Reimel Moot Court CompetitionÌýis an annual intra-school tournament and a hallowed tradition at ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Law. Named in honor of the late Theodore L. Reimel, Judge for the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas from 1953 to 1973, the competition is designed to foster student development in written and oral advocacy through simulated appellate argument.ÌýMany alumni and other esteemed members of the legal community come to the law school to judge the oral arguments and provide advice and feedback to our students.

In 2015, the Reimel Competition was integrated with the LW3–Litigation/Appellate Advocacy course to provide second-year students with a more comprehensive, authentic and practice-oriented educational experience. Students enrolled in Appellate Advocacy participate in Reimels as part of the course.Ìý Third-year students are also encouraged to participate in the competition. All participants work in teams of two and are required to write an appellate brief and participate in oral arguments.

2L students enrolled in Legal Writing III: Litigation/Appellate Advocacy compete in teams of two writing an appellate brief and arguing twice (once on-brief and once off-brief) in the preliminary round of the competition. The top-scoring teams advance to the elimination rounds of the competition. ²ÝÁñÉçÇø alumni, professors, local practitioners, and distinguished federal and state judges serve as panelists in the intra-school competition.

64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition

Champions

Daniel Rooney ’25 & Jillian Updegraff ’25

Awards

Best Final Round Oralist:ÌýJillian Updegraff ’25

Best Brief:ÌýLily Beck ’25 & Noah Swanson ’25

Second Best Brief:ÌýKaitlyn Furst ’25 & Jillian Rotman ’25

Third Best Brief: Rachel GoldsteinÌý’25 & Anthony Ryback ’25

Best Preliminary Round Oralist:ÌýRachel Phillips ’25

Judges

Final Round Bench

  • The Honorable Pamela A. Harris,ÌýUnited States Circuit Judge for the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • The Honorable Fabiana Pierre-Louis, Justice for the Supreme Court of New Jersey
  • The Honorable David Wecht,ÌýJustice for theÌýPennsylvania Supreme Court

Semi-finals Bench

  • The Honorable Kai Scott, United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • The Honorable Gerald J. Pappert ’85 BA,ÌýUnited States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • The Honorable Maria McLaughlin, Judge for the Pennsylvania Superior Court

1961-62:ÌýRobert J. Bray ’62 and John J. Duffy ’62

1962-63:ÌýKenneth N. Garber ’63 and Robert Silverberg ’64

1963-64:ÌýRichard H. Roesgen ’64 and Thomas M. Twardowski ’65

1964-65:ÌýCharles A. Haddad ’66 and Eugene D. Silverman ’66

1965-66: Anthony B. Agnew ’67 and Barton A. Pasternak ’67

1966-67:ÌýEdward R. Murphy ’67 and Patrick J. O’Connor ’67

1967-68:ÌýJoseph R. Lally ’69 and Edward S. Panek ’69

1968-69: Joseph D. Casey III ’70 and Samuel J. Knox ’70

1969-70:ÌýJoseph T. Sebastianelli ’71 and Leonard N. Zito ’71

1970-71:ÌýJohn P. Moses ’71 and Thomas J. O’Neill ’68 VSB, ’71 CWSL

1971-72:ÌýAlan R. Jackman ’63 CLAS, ’72 CWSL and John W. Nails ’72

1972-73:ÌýPaul R. Beckert ’73 and John C. Gabroy ’73

1973-74:Judith R. Forman ’75 and Lise Luborsky ’75

1974-75:ÌýJoseph F. Lawless ’76 and David E. Worby ’76

1975-76:ÌýPatricia H. Burrall ’76 and J. Keath Fetter ’76

1976-77:ÌýJames F. Guidera ’75 CLAS, ’78 CWSL and Dennis C. McAndrews ’78

1977-78:ÌýJames M. Baker ’78 and Frederick J. Lauten ’79

1978-79:ÌýNancy A. Ezold ’80 and Susan T. Fletcher ’80

1979-80:ÌýKenwyn M. Dougherty ’80 and Richard L. McMonigle ’80

1980-81:ÌýJoseph C. Kohn ’82 and Lisa Palfy ’82

1981-82:ÌýBrian L. Lincicome ’82 and Jeffrey A. Lutsky ’82

1982-83:ÌýMichael J. Robinson ’84 and Andrew G. Siegeltuch ’84

1983-84: Sylvia T. Nisenbaum ’85 and Nancy H. Redd ’85

1984-85:ÌýBarbara A. O’Connell ’86 and Pamela L. Pentin ’86

1985-86:ÌýLibby A. White ’86 and David J. Wiedis ’86

1986-87:ÌýLisa M. McCausland ’88 and Rosemary Pinto ’88

1987-88:ÌýTimothy J. Jaeger ’88 and Nina A. Kannatt ’88

1988-89:ÌýRichard E. Ruffee ’90 and Neil W. Townsend ’90

1989-90:ÌýLinda J. Ferrara ’91 and Rosemary D. Halligan ’91

1990-91: Robert J. Bohner Jr. ’91 and Leslie M. Gillin ’91

1991-92: Martin S. Lessner ’92 and Eric G. Zajac ’92

1992-93: Kelly Ann Connors ’94 and Michele C. Wiener ’94

1993-94:ÌýDavid A. Aikens ’94 and Michelle M. Aldrich ’94

1994-95: Joanne M. Judge ’96 and Barbara A. Williams ’96

1995-96: Michelle M. Lombardo ’88 BA, ’91 MS, ’97 CWSL and Jayne Y. Risk ’97

1996-97: Daniel J. Barry ’98 and Ronald D. Gale ’97

1997-98:ÌýDiane P. Carman ’89 CLAS, ’98 CWSL and Jennifer J. Clark ’98

1998-99: Tomika N. Stevens ’03 and Melissa H. Witsil ’00

1999-00:ÌýMaureen Q. Dwyer ’01 and Tracy D. Laskowski ’01

2000-01: Dennis L. Abramson ’01 and Andrew J. DiSanto ’01

2001-02 Kimberly A. Eger ’02 and Steven S. Poulathas ’99 VSB, ’02 CWSL

2002-03: Katherine J. Greger ’03 and William C. Root ’98 VSB, ’03 CWSL

2003-04: LeeAnn L. Gurysh ’05 and Christina M. Hanna ’05

2004-05: Edward J. Heffernan ’06 and Jonathan B. Ortiz ’06

2005-06: Christina M. Maron ’07 and Lindsay D. Varcoe ’07

2006-07: Bethany L. Deal ’05 CLAS, ’08 CWSL and Brian A. Pelloni ’08

2007-08: Michael J. Hoffman ’09 and Kelly M. Immordino ’09

2008-09: Brittany A. Koscher ’10 and Sean P. Philbin ’05 CLAS, ’10 CWSL

2009-10: Stephen E. Luttrell ’11 and Daniel A. Strumpf ’11

2010-11:ÌýJohn Mitchell Morris ’12 and Julia C. Young ’12

2011-12: Richard D. Eiszner ’05 CLAS, ’13 CWSL and Andrea E. May ’13

2012-13: Stephen J. McCloskey ’14 and Ashley M. Toczylowski ’14

2013-14:ÌýWilliam G. Burrows ’15Ìýand Mark R. Hewlett ’15

2014-15:ÌýBethany E. Brooks ’15Ìýand Nicole K. Pedi ’15

2015-16:ÌýJoshua Jacobs ’17 andÌýEugene Tsvilik ’17

2016-17: Sarah Burke ’18 andÌýKaitlyn Macaulay ’18

2017-18:ÌýSteven Lee ’19 andÌýDaniel Sulvetta ’19

2018-19:ÌýVanessa Huber '20 andÌýScott Zlotnick '19

2019-20:ÌýCC Carreras '21 andÌýKarina Norwood '21

2020-21:ÌýAnnalise Hodges '22 and Tasha Stoltzfus Nankerville '22

2021-22:ÌýAlexandra Romano ’23 and Isabelle Roman ’23

2022-23: Daniel Goldfield ’24 and Anna O'Brien ’24

Last yearÌý²ÝÁñÉçÇø Law’s Moot Court board members found success in various national appellate advocacy competitions, where they faced teams from law schools across the country. Each team consisted of two students from the Moot Court Board, the principal oral advocacy organization at ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Law which aims to enhance and showcase students’ courtroom advocacy skills.

Participants analyzed and argued cutting-edge legal issues for hypothetical cases, from either the plaintiffs’ side or the defendants’. They used procedures modeled after those employed in state and federal appellate courts.

This year, the Moot Court Board is excited to return to in-person external competitions and continue to meet success!

²ÝÁñÉçÇø School of Law
Moot Court Board
299 N. Spring Mill Rd.
²ÝÁñÉçÇø, PA 19085

Faculty Adviser: Michael Furey

Volunteer to Judge the Reimel Competition

Ìý

²ÝÁñÉçÇø Charles Widger
School of Law
299 N. Spring Mill Rd.
²ÝÁñÉçÇø, PA 19085
610-519-7000Ìý ÌýContact Law

²ÝÁñÉçÇø Charles Widger School of Law is approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654, (312) 988-6738