Second-year law student Julianne Lofton argues a moot court case during a competition at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Lofton and her teammate Spencer Ritchie placed second in the national competition.
Two moot court teams from the UM School of Law have shown that the school’s students are ready to take on the legal world.
A UM team recently finished as national runner-up in a First Amendment Moot Court competition in Nashville. Another moot court team won first place in regional competition.
Julianne Lofton of Jackson and Spencer Ritchie of Midland, Texas, both second-year law students, finished second behind Brigham Young University in the national 19th annual First Amendment Moot Court Competition held at the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.
For the first time in history, students from the UM law school won the regional round of the National Trial Competition, earning them a trip to San Antonio, Texas, on March 25 for the national competition. Team members were third-year law students Rebekah Blakeslee of Gulfport, Margaret Middleton of Lula and Herbert Wilson of Gulfport. Third-year student Matthew Shoemaker of Petal and first-year student Julia Bryant of Kosciusko served as witnesses for the competition.
Law professor Matthew Hall, who served as coach of the team competing in the First Amendment competition, said the competition involved teams from 35 schools, including Boston College, Cornell, Virginia, and William and Mary. The UM team argued the final and semifinal rounds in front of panels that included 10 federal judges.
“Julianne and Spencer received wonderful compliments from Charles Overby and John Seigenthaler, who both watched them in the semis and finals,” Hall said. “[They] performed at their best when it mattered the most. Their work in the quarters, semis and finals stands out as the strongest performance, under the most pressure that I have ever seen from one of our moot court teams. With [second-year students] like Spencer and Julianne, Ole Miss makes a powerful case that it belongs among the top ranks in national appellate advocacy.”
Lofton said she found the competition to be helpful in that it taught her better strategies for articulating a legal viewpoint.
“The competition problem was challenging because both sides were equally balanced, making it difficult to mount a winning argument,” she said. “It was an honor to compete against such great teams from all over the country and to argue in front of such distinguished judges. The experience will definitely make me a better attorney.”
Ritchie added that the competition will go down as one of the highlights of his law school experience.
“Participating in this competition dramatically boosted my confidence in a courtroom setting,” he said. “This, I think, will greatly benefit me one day when I am practicing law in a real courtroom.”
Middleton said the National Trial Competition team’s historic win is an exciting achievement for the UM Moot Court Board. The team is sponsored by the Jackson law firm Steen, Dalehite & Pace.
“When you finally get to take your case and put it in front of a live judging panel, it’s an incredible learning experience,” Middleton said. “The feedback we got from the judging attorneys was invaluable. There is no other place we could have ever gotten so much in-depth feedback on our skills and knowledge. Having the opportunity to test ourselves against such fantastic competition made all of the work worth it.”
Law Dean Samuel M. Davis said the moot court program is having a great year.
“I am extremely proud of our team members as well as our coaches,” he said. “The Moot Court Board has very strong leadership this year, and I am fully supportive of the program as a means of showcasing our students and reflecting credit on our law school.” —Jennifer Farish