Each year, Alabama Law’s 3L Moot Court Board, led by Professor Kimberly Boone, hosts the 2L Moot Court Competition Final Round. This year’s competition began in January with 48 2L students, eager to enhance their appellate advocacy skills. Each team wrote a brief and presented oral arguments in competition with fellow classmates, receiving valuable feedback from the Moot Court Board. The many practice rounds, preliminary rounds, and the bracket of advancing teams was ably managed by the 3L co-chairs of the competition, Camdyn Neal, Megan Wong, and Callen Woodard.
The competition culminates in a final round where the last two teams standing go head-to-head, presenting their hypothetical case before sitting judges who are currently on the bench. This year, finalists Caroline Woodward, Madeline Martin, Andrew Weisenfeld, and Justin Heydt argued an accessibility lawsuit before Magistrate Judge Jerusha T. Adams of the Middle District of Alabama, Judge Robert J. Luck of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and Justice Chris McCool (Class of ‘93) of the Alabama Supreme Court. The panel selected Woodward and Martin as the winning team, named Heydt the winner of the Reuben H. Wright Award for the best advocate, and praised all finalists for their excellent preparation and performance. During the round, Nathan Shipper and Jack Steinmetz also received the Walter P. Gewin Award for writing the best brief in the competition.
