The Law School and the American College of Trial Lawyers celebrated Lindsey Barber, Cory Church, and Anne Miles Golson, all 2Ls, for winning the 69th Annual National Moot Court Competition in New York.
In his opening remarks, Dean Mark E Brandon said the School of Law at The University of Alabama has traditionally been a great place to train students for skills that are relevant to litigation at the very highest levels. Speaking to that tradition, he had the privilege of hosting the Law School’s annual alumni banquet in Birmingham this year, and many of the guests had themselves participated in moot court when they were students.
“When I announced to our alumni and friends that our team had won the National Moot Court Competition, the hall broke out in spontaneous and enthusiastic applause,” Brandon said. “They, like all of us in the building, are proud of you and what you’ve done.”
Before presenting the awards, Jeffrey S. Leon, President of the American College of Trial Lawyers, said: “I just want to tell you over my 40-year career I’ve seen a lot of lawyers, advocates, and counsel argue in court, and they have nothing on these three people.”
Leon presented the John W. Davis Award for Best Oral Presentation and the Fulton W. Haight Award for Best Oral Argument to Golson. He also presented plaques to each member of the team.
Assistant Dean for Students Mary Ksobiech, who has coached the 2L Moot Court Fellows for eight years, provided the closing remarks.
She described Barber “as grace under pressure,” and she noted that Church was the “inverse of unflappable.” Ksobiech said she has never seen anyone teach as well as Golson does from the podium, and that Josh Kravec, the team’s manager, motivated each member of the team.
“I describe what I get to do in the fall with the 2L Fellows as my favorite part of the year, and you three and Josh did not let me down, so thank you,” Ksobiech said.
This summer, Barber will work for Baker Donelson and Waller Lansden in Birmingham. Church will spend his summer at Bradley Arant and McGuire Woods in Charlotte, North Carolina. Golson will split her summer between Bradley Arant in Birmingham and Jones Day in Washington, D.C.