The FIU Law Moot Court Board of Appellate Advocates completed its 2017-2018 competition season with an impressive showing at the White & Case International Rounds of the Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.
FIU Law earned its first trip to the White & Case International Rounds, and the opportunity to represent the United States at this year’s competition, after advancing to the Championship Round of the United States South Regional Qualifier in February.
With over 100 countries represented at this year’s competition, Alina Fernandez, Amaia Sanz de Acedo, Janet Rayo, and Yunet Soto traveled to Washington D.C. with Professor Margaret Correoso to represent FIU Law on the international stage. The team faced off against Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (Mexico), National Taipei University (Chinese Taipei), Comenius University (Slovakia), and University Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Peru) in the preliminary rounds, where they posted a tremendous 3-1 record. While the team knocked off their counterparts from Chinese Taipei, Slovakia, and Peru, Mexico was the sole team from our pool to advance to the round of 32.
Professor Correoso, reflecting on the successes of the four competitors, stated, “This team put their heart and soul into this competition at both the regional and international rounds over the past six months. Their hard work paid off, as they not only brought FIU Law to the international rounds for the first time ever, they represented FIU Law at the highest level and beat three of the four countries they competed against. Congratulations!”
The trip to the White & Case International Rounds of the 58th Annual Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition capped off a record year for FIU Law’s Moot Court Board of Appellate Advocates. Beginning with a quarterfinal placement at the 2017 Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition at the Florida Bar Convention in July of 2017 and a quarterfinal placement at the National Latino/a Law Student Association Moot Court Competition (an FIU Law first), the 2017-2018 Moot Court team set a strong tone with the goal of building FIU Law’s brand on the national and international stage.
From there, the team traveled to the Billings Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition for the first time, where they earned a spot in the national semifinals. This would be FIU Law’s first national semifinals appearance in the past five years. Fortunately, it would not take five more years for another semifinals appearance at a national competition, as just four months later, after strong showings at the American Bar Association National Moot Court Competition and Federal Bar Association National Moot Court Competition (another FIU Law first), the team advanced through the regional semifinals and earned a spot at the regional championships at the Phillip C. Jessup United States South Regional Qualifier.
Looking back on the success of the 2017-2018 competition season, Moot Court Co-President, Sam Basch stated, “The success of this team is a tribute to the hard work, dedication, and attention to detail that every team member has put into every brief and every practice this year. When we began our competition season back in May of 2017, the executive board and faculty advisor, Professor Ila Klion, made it our goal to create an atmosphere and culture where winning is the standard. Looking back on the season, it is great to see this dream come to life after all the long hours and hard work that our team has put in over the last eleven months.”
For more information on the FIU Law Moot Court Board of Appellate Advocates, please visit the team’s website at https://law.fiu.edu/academics/appellate-advocacy/. In addition, please feel free to reach out to Presidents Sam Basch (sbasc007@fiu.edu) and Ana Cuello (acuel020@fiu.edu) with any questions or inquiries about the team.
