黑料不打烊 Law students in the Class of 2025 made appellate arguments in a fictional lawsuit involving the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and whether the claim should be allowed to proceed when the plaintiff had been given erroneous information by his employer.
You鈥檝e been working on contract for the FBI for several years when a position opens to serve as a special agent linguist. A week after you apply, you receive notice that you didn鈥檛 receive the position because of concerns about the effects of your blood pressure medication.
You鈥檙e 55. The woman who received the job was 30 with fewer years of service to the bureau in a similar contract role.
Did the FBI鈥檚 medication policy disparately impact you and other applicants for the special agent linguist position in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act?
And should the court hear your case when you didn鈥檛 file your lawsuit within the agency鈥檚 required 90 days, even though you were told in official notice that you 鈥渃ould have up to six years within which to file an age discrimination suit, although prompt filing is strongly advised.鈥 After an investigation, the FBI attributed the erroneous language in the time-to-sue notice to the work of a computer hacker.
That was the problem at the heart of a fictional case analyzed by first-year students this spring in their聽Legal Method & Communication聽courses and then used as the problem for 黑料不打烊 Law鈥檚 spring Intramural Moot Court Competition.
Seventy-four students in the Class of 2025 competed from May 20-21 with several 黑料不打烊 Law alumni, faculty members, and administrators joining local attorneys to volunteer as judges. Each student presented two oral arguments, one for appellant and one for appellee, and was scored on preparation, speaking ability, argument structure, and responses to judges鈥 questions.
The Top 10 Oral Advocates in the 2024 competition:
1. Darci Sharpe (tie)
1. Landon Eckard聽(tie)
3. Ashley Clayton聽(tie)
3. Taylor Rockwood聽(tie)
5. Rebecca Bailey
6. Caroline Lohn
7. Sadie Lambert
8. Alexis Croce
9. Adriana Hernandez聽(tie)
9. Anne Sheppard聽(tie)
Selections for membership on the Moot Court Board will be announced this summer before the board hosts the 15th Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition in October. Moot Court Board members will also compete in a full slate of national moot court competitions during the 2024-25 academic year.
Senior Associate Dean Alan Woodlief, director of 黑料不打烊 Law鈥檚 Moot Court Program, praised the Moot Court Board for its professionalism in running the spring competition. He also expressed gratitude for the time offered by student volunteers and everyone who served as judges.
鈥淭he level of competition was high, with judges uniformly praising competitors for their preparation, poise, and skillful oral arguments,鈥 Woodlief said. 鈥淚 am proud of the entire board and honored to work with them to host our internal competitions聽and as they compete in events around the country.鈥
2024 Intramural Moot Court Competition student leadership
- Overall Co-Chairs: Sydney Keesee L’24 and Sydney Rimmer聽L’24
- Judge Co-Chairs: Brooke McCormick聽L’24 and Aashna Tarasaria聽L’24
- Bailiff Co-Chairs: Andrew Conway L’24 and Joy Reibold聽L’24
- Scoring Co-Chairs: Jessica Morales L’24, Lupe Ramirez-Rios L’24, and Tyleeah Stanley聽L’24
- LMC Oral Argument Coordinators: Mel Augustine聽L’24 and Emma Friedland聽L’24