Baylor Law Dominates ABA Moot Court Contest in Washington, D.C.

March 6, 2006

Baylor Law School fielded the top two teams among 27 law school teams competing in the regional tournament of the prestigious American Bar Association (ABA) National Appellate Advocacy Competition in Washington, D.C. during the weekend.

The two Baylor teams each went undefeated through five rounds of arguments and now advance to the national championship of the ABA competition next month in Chicago. A traditional moot court competition, the contest focuses on written and oral advocacy skills.

The victorious Baylor law students also won the Best Brief and 2nd Best Brief awards, and had two speakers ranked in the contest's Top 10 Oral Advocates.

Said team coach Professor Brian Serr, "All these students richly deserve our congratulations on a spectacular success in what is perhaps the nation's most prestigious and most competitive moot court competition."

Baylor was represented by Josh Hedrick (2nd best brief), Ryan Kercher (best brief and 10th best advocate), Lauren Melhart (2nd best brief), Katie Sweeten (best brief and 2nd best advocate), and brief-writing captain Jennifer Turner (best brief).

Serr said Josh Hedrick and Lauren Melhart "just narrowly missed" the Top 10 honors and won their national qualifying round by beating a team composed of two of the top 10 advocates. Lauren Carlson also traveled with the team and served as a bailiff/tabulator.

The national final of the contest will be held April 6-8 at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on South Dearborn Street, Chicago.