KU law school’s moot court program continues top-20 national streak

LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas School of Law’s moot court program is 17th in the nation, according to rankings published this month by the University of Houston Law Center.

Led by several top-three national performances, KU Law students accumulated enough points to break into the top 20 for the second year in a row. Pamela Keller, clinical professor of law and lawyering skills director, helped advance KU Law's moot court program two spots above last year’s No. 19 ranking.

“This year every team in our program made it to what we call the ‘knockout’ rounds – the advanced rounds – of a national or international competition,” Keller said. "This means that every team performed at a very high level, which also means our students are ready to perform at a high level in actual legal practice. To have so many teams win awards, and to have our program be nationally ranked, is icing on the cake.”

Accumulating the most points toward KU’s ranking was its performance at the National Native American Law Students Association Moot Court Competition in early March. Megan Carroll, Wichita, and Bill Madden, Topeka, placed second in the NNALSA competition. Carroll won the award for second-best oral advocate out of 128 competitors.

Other highlights from the 2016-2017 moot court season:

• Ciara Malone, Overland Park, and Nikki Marcotte, Manhattan, placed second in the Wechsler First Amendment National Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C.
• Ashley Billam, Olathe, and Sam LaRoque, Shawnee, won the regional round of the National Moot Court Competition in Topeka, then advanced to the Sweet 16 at the national rounds in New York City.
• Will Easley, Overland Park, and Bill Madden, Topeka, took third place at the Federal Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall National Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C.
• Chris Wolcott of Oakwood, Ohio, and Kyle Crane, Overland Park, advanced to the quarterfinals of the PACE National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition in White Plains, New York.
• CJ Boyd, Dallas, and Dalton Mott of Independence, Missouri, advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Tournament in San Diego, and Mott received the third-best oral advocate award.
• Erica McCabe, Emporia, and Max McGraw and Kriston Guillot, both of Shawnee, advanced to the regional quarterfinals of the National Moot Court Competition in Topeka.
• John Truong, Wichita; Joe Uhlman, Sedgwick; Bridget Brazil, Chanute: Kyle Klucas, Silver Lake; and Cecelia Crookston, Kansas City, Kansas; advanced to the regional quarterfinals of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Denver.
• Skyler Davenport, of Blue Springs, Missouri, and Nathan Kakazu, of Madison, Wisconsin, advanced to the regional semifinals of the ABA’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition in Brooklyn, New York.
• Hannah Schoeb and Cody Wood, both of Leawood, were quarterfinalists in the Williams Institute Moot Court Competition in Los Angeles.

Most KU Law students who compete in national tournaments were the top finishers in the school’s in-house moot court competition during their second year of law school. Competitions generally consist of writing an appellate brief and presenting a mock oral argument before an appellate court.