Baylor Law Wins Prestigious Regional Moot Court Tournament

Contact: Julie Carlson, Baylor Law School, (254) 710-6681

A Baylor Law School moot court team won the regional tournament of the 59th annual National Moot Court Competition and will advance to the national finals, which will take place in early February in New York City. The Baylor team of Ed Cloutman, Brian Garrett and John Hardage competed against a team from South Texas School of Law in the regional final, which was held at Baylor Law School on Nov. 21. As runner up, South Texas also qualified for the national finals.

"I am very proud of our team and their performance this past week," said team coach Kathy Serr, adjunct professor at Baylor Law School. "I think this regional is, without question, one of the toughest tournaments in the country. The Championship final against South Texas was an excellent round which spotlighted the very best advocates from two of the nation's top advocacy programs."

Teams from law schools from Texas and Oklahoma participated in the regional tournament.
Participating in the tournament were Baylor, the University of Oklahoma, St. Mary's University, South Texas College of Law, Southern Methodist University, Texas Tech University, Texas Wesleyan University and the University of Houston.

The participants argued hypothetical cases before a panel of legal professionals who serve as judges. The first speaker's issue deals with the constitutionality of RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act) in regard to the denial of a zoning permit for an expansion project for a religious institution. The second speaker's issue deals with the scope of the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) regarding private school tuition reimbursement for special-needs children.

The National Moot Court Tournament is sponsored by the New York City Bar Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers. Every year, more 150 law school teams compete in the regional rounds throughout the United States. Twenty-eight teams will advance to the final rounds held at the New York City Bar.