Classmates Compete In Constance Baker Motley Moot Court Finals

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Classmates Compete In Constance Baker Motley Moot Court Finals

 

Public Affairs, 212-854-2650
 
New York, May 26, 2010—After one of the most successful moot court competition seasons in decades, Columbia Law School is guaranteed yet another first-place trophy in the only final left to contest.
 
At the finals of the Fifth Annual Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition, Josh Picker’12 and Adam Shpeen ’12 will compete against Thomas Sprankling ’12 and Sylvia Duran ’12 at the American Constitution Society’s annual convention.
 
The two pairings ensured an all- Law School final round by dominating both regional finals. The event will be held June 17, from 4-6 p.m., at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. The competition will be judged by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge Inez Smith Reid, District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
 
Caroline Fredrickson ’92, Executive Director of the American Constitution Society, said about the competition, “As has come to be expected, the Columbia teams continue to impress judges and students alike…the student competitors and the CLS faculty and staff should be extremely proud of the teams.”
 
The event, which started in 2006, was founded by Law School students the year after the death of Constance Baker Motley ’46, an influential figure in the civil rights movement.While still a student at the Law School, Motley met Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP's legal director, who offered her a job as a law clerk in the organization's New York office. After graduating, Motley joined the NAACP's legal staff full-time.
 
Columbia Law School competitors have been successful in a variety of moot court competitions this year, including a national championship at the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition, and a national championship and a second-place finish in the World Championship Round of the Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. A round-up of results can be seen here.
 
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Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School joins its traditional strengths in international and comparative law, constitutional law, administrative law, business law and human rights law with pioneering work in the areas of intellectual property, digital technology, sexuality and gender, criminal, national security, and environmental law.
 
 
Written by Zachary Glubiak