Alabama Law’s moot court team comprised of Joe Barnello, Ben Seiss, and Zach Starr, all 3Ls, gave an outstanding performance in November 2020 at the regional rounds for the New York City Bar National Moot Court Competition. The team wrote one of the top briefs and advanced from preliminary rounds as the tournament’s third seed. The team continued to advance through the quarterfinal to the semi-final rounds.
This year’s problem was legally and factually dense, weaving together an only somewhat fictitious global pandemic with civil RICO claims, Fourth Amendment doctrines, and sovereign immunity. In addition, the team had to navigate an all-too-real pandemic that fundamentally changed how they practiced and presented their arguments. As the first Alabama Law moot court team to compete in a virtual competition, Joe, Ben, and Zach were trailblazers, adding a host of technical issues to the normal moot court preparation. With the help of their coach, Professor Cameron Fogle, they handled all of this with the grace and poise befitting students of the School of Law.