Students Make Strong Showing at National Moot Court Competition
Columbia Law School's Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Environmental Law Moot Court Team Reaches the Semifinals of Annual Competition
New York, March 4, 2016—Made up of first-year students from Columbia Law School, the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Environmental Law Moot Court team faced five rounds of opponents from competing law schools to reach the semifinals of the 2016 Jeffrey G. Miller Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, held last month in White Plains, New York.
For 27 years, the competition, sponsored by Pace Law School, has focused on current issues in environmental law, providing students with an opportunity to write appellate briefs and conduct oral arguments based on real-life problems. This year’s edition drew from actual cases under the Clean Air Act involving EPA permit regulations at major emitting facilities. The largest interschool moot court competition, the three-day tournament attracted teams from more than 50 law schools from across the country, many made up of second- and third-year students, and 175 attorneys served as judges of the oral arguments.
Columbia Law School's team—comprised of Young Choi ’18, Michael Lanci ’18, and Anthony Raduazo ’18—was one of nine to make the semifinal round. Choi and Raduazo each won a “Best Oralist” award in two of the preliminary rounds. Columbia Law School’s team has made the national semifinals for two years in a row.
pictured left to right: Anthony Raduazo '18, Michael Lanci '18, and Young Choi '18
Sponsored by the Environmental Law Society, the moot court team was coached by Elizabeth Brody ’17, Abigail Cooper ’17, and Raymond Moss ’17, who also served as the team’s brief editors. Team members are currently in the Environmental Law Legal Practice Workshop taught by Lecturer in Law Susan Amron ’84, chief of the environmental law division of the New York City Law Department.
All first-year students at Columbia Law School are required to participate in the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Moot Court Program or an approved international moot-court competition. Second- and third-year students may participate in the Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court Competition. The moot court offerings are taught and overseen by Ilene Strauss, director of legal writing programs at Columbia Law School.