Appellate Advocacy Division

The Appellate Advocacy division of the Barristers' Council runs the Law Center's moot court program, which includes two Georgetown Law competitions each year. The Council is also the proud host of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Competition, a unique interscholastic moot court competition that deals with emerging international law and space law issues.

Joining the Appellate Advocacy Division

The Leahy Competition is held in the fall and is open to Georgetown Law LL.M. and upper-class J.D. students. The Beaudry Competition is held in the spring and is open to Georgetown Law first-year J.D. students. Competitors must write an appellate brief based on a closed packet and then argue their case in front of a panel of judges. Finalists argue before a panel of prominent local and federal judges. Those who advance to a certain level are invited to join the Barristers' Council and to represent Georgetown Law in an interscholastic moot court competition. 

2013 Beaudry Moot Court Competition

Registration Week: Monday, February 25th - Friday, March 1st (at the Chapel tables on the 1st floor of McDonough).

Packet Release Date: Friday, March 1st

Packet Due Date: Sunday, March 10th.

Preliminary Rounds:  Monday, March 11th - Friday, March 22nd.

Semi-final Round: Saturday, March 22nd.

Final Round: Thursday, April 2nd, 8PM in Hart Auditorium.

Contact Information

For more information on the Appellate Advocacy Division, please contact the Managing Director, Sarah Mortazavi, at barristers@law.georgetown.edu.

2011-2012 Season

• Cardozo-BMI Moot Court Competition:  From a field of 32 teams, Georgetown won the Cardozo-BMI Moot Court competition.   Our team of Jeff Golimowski (2L) and Nick Schneider (2L) advanced to the final round, where they argued before Chief Judge Jacobs of the Second Circuit.   Jeff was ranked third best oralist overall.   Joshua Rivera (3L) coached the team.

• International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition:  In this inaugural competition at American University specifically created for LL.M. students, Julien Cordahi, Sarah Vieux, Sagnik Sinha, David Mercurio (LL.M. team) and Tammam Kaissi, Min Choi, Valentin Jeutner (coaches) won the event. 

• National Moot Court Competition:  At the Regionals in November, Deb Gruen (2L) and Jeff Golimowski (2L) were the Region III Champion team.  They also won the Region III Best Brief Award and Jeff won the Region III Best Oral Advocate Award.  They were then chosen as one of the 30 teams out of the original pool of 191 to advance to the National Rounds.  The team was coached by Zach Warren (3L). 

• National Telecommunications Competition:  This year's team of John Lupton (2L) and Tom White (3L) were the winners (Best Overall) of the Telecommunications Competition.  Their coach was Drew Miller (3L).  

• National Veterans Law Moot Court Competition:  This year's team of Emily Chambers (2L) and Jeffrey DeSousa (2L) were the winners of the Best Team in the Veterans Moot Court Competition.  The team won Best Brief for the Respondent and Emily won Best Oralist. For the semi-finals and finals, they argued at the Court of Veterans' Appeals in Washington, DC.  The team was coached by Tom White (3L).

• Spong Invitational Moot Court Competition:  Competing against 25 other teams, Georgetown's team of Rob Silverblatt (2L) and Derek Webb (3L) won the Spong Tournament and won Best Respondent's Brief.   A photo of the team arguing the final round at William and Mary by candlelight is attached.  The team was coached by Kellyn Goler (3L) and Danielle Jefferis (3L).

• 2012 Robert J. Beaudry Moot Court Competition:   At the spring intra-school appellate advocacy competition, open to 1L and 1E students, Edward Williams (1L) was selected as Best Advocate. The other finalists were Shari Dwoskin (1L), Carmen Green (1L), and Paul Sellers (1L).  The winner of the Best Brief award was Brooke Rowland. 

• 2011 William E. Leahy Moot Court Competition:  During this fall's intra-school appellate advocacy competition, open to all non-1L/1E students, Aaron Rabinowitz (L'13) was selected as Best Advocate.  The other finalists were Lauren Britsch (L'13), Zachary Kady (L'14), and Adam Wesolowski (L'13).  Adam Wesolowski was also the winner of the Best Brief. 

• National Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition:   Anne Young (2L) and David Silvers (3L) advanced to the Finals and were the runners-up for this competition.  They were coached by Janea Sears (3L). 

• NYU Immigration Moot Court Competition:   Emily Chambers (2L) and Jaclyn Epstein (2L) were finalists at the NYU Immigration Moot in field that included sixteen other teams.  Emily also won the Best Oralist award. The team was coached by Ray Tolentino (3L) and Alex Valenti (3L). 

• Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition:  Georgetown's team of Nate Cullerton (2L) and Chris DeLuzio (2L) advanced to the Final Round out of 32 teams.  The competition was held at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. They finished in second place and Chris won Best Oralist in the Final Round.  The team was coached by Sarah Kelly-Kilgore (3L) and Mike Sheerin (3L).

• Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition:  Our team of Michael Nelson (2E) and Roshni Patel (2L) advanced to the semi-finals and also won the Best Appellee Brief Award.   The team was coached by Bryan Quinn (3E) and Tom White (3L).

• Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition:  Georgetown's team of Zachary Garthe (2L) and Adam Wesolowski (2L) went to the semi-finals of the Manfred Lachs Space Law competition's North American rounds, which are hosted by Georgetown each year. They were coached by Andrew Knudsen (3L) and alumnus coach Albert Lai (Georgetown 2011). 

• Bryant-Moore Moot:  Lauren Dollar (2L) and Ana Olarte del Castillo (3E) made the quarterfinals at this competition. They were coached by Zach Perez (3L). 

• Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition:  Our team of Frederick Hall (2L) and Megan Lovett (2L) advanced to the quarterfinal rounds out of a field of 36 teams, receiving the second best brief award.  Their coaches were Sean Douglass (3L) and Matt Vaughan (3L). 

• GW National Security Competition:  Sarah Mortazavi (2L) and Jeff Nye (2L) made the quarterfinals of the National Security Moot out of 25 teams.  Jeff was also won Best Oralist and 2d place in the Best Overall Competitor category.  The team was coached by Tim Feulner (3L). 

• Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Moot Court Competition:  Matt Barsamian (2L) and James Barta (2L) advanced to the quarterfinals of this competition consisting of approximately 28 teams.  They were coached by Stuart Harding (3L) and Jan Shanklin (3L). 

• Vanderbilt Competition:   Raymond Berti (2L) and Hanna Lundqvist (2L) advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were in the top 8 of 39 teams. They were coached by Tom McSorley (3L).

• Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition:  At the Mid-Atlantic Regionals in Philadelphia, our team of Said Saba (2L) and Chris Rawlins (2L) won the Best Petitioner Brief Award.  They were coached by Jason Outlaw (3L) and Tiffany Wright (3E).

• Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition:  Representing Georgetown in New York, our team of Sam Hynes (2L) and Aditi Sherikar (2L) took home the award for Best Oral Argument.   The team was coached by Monica Youssef (3L).