Holy Cross’ Moot Court Finishes 2013-2014 Competition Season with Success

Six members of the Holy Cross Moot Court team traveled to the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University for the annual American Collegiate Moot Court national championship on Jan. 17-18. Captains Christine Fimognari ‘15 and Michael Bender ‘15 placed in the top sixteen of the more than 300 teams which competed for a spot in the national competition this year. The pair also earned a national title as the fifth-ranked brief in the nation in the American Collegiate Moot Court Association’s sponsored written advocacy competition.

Moot Court is a simulation of appellate court in which participants argue the constitutionality of lower rulings in front of a panel of judges who act as the Supreme Court. The tournament is limited to competitors who qualify in the top 20% of the nation’s ten regional tournaments. This year, eighty two-person teams participated, presenting oral arguments to judges acting as Supreme Court justices. In each round, teams receive twenty minutes to advocate for either the petitioner or respondent of a hypothetical legal case. This year’s case involved comprehensive location tracking and the ability of the President to indefinitely detain American citizens, addressing constitutional issues related to the Fourth Amendment and Article II of the Constitution.

Fimognari and Bender, along with Andrew Emerson ’14 and Megan Izzo ’17, earned bids in November to compete in the tournament. Erin Reilly ’15 and Sam Marth ’16 also had a strong showing at regionals and attended the competition as alternates.

Contributions to this story from Megan Izzo '17.