The final round featured an impressive lineup of judges. The championship was judged by Jennifer Walker Elrod, Circuit Court Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; Scott A. Brister, former Texas Supreme Court Justice and current Partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth; and Thomas Griffith, former Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Recognized nationally as a preeminent competitor, MSU Law was one of only 16 programs invited to compete in Houston, based on the prior year’s rankings. MSU Law has been invited to “the show” previously but this team swept the competition beating New York University School of Law, Regent University School of Law, Mercer University School of Law, and the University of Kansas School of Law in preliminary rounds. They continued their winning streak by surpassing South Texas College of Law Houston in the quarterfinals and the University of Miami School of Law in the semifinal round.
These stellar performances earned the team “an immense trophy and a cash award of $5K,” according to their very proud coach, Professor Jennifer Copland. “This is a huge result for MSU Law. If you know any of these students, please make sure to congratulate them.” Additionally, Ms. Kelley received a trophy and a $600 cash prize as the third place overall oralist.
“This team worked incredibly hard, and really deserved this recognition,” noted Professor Copland. “They rose to the occasion, continuously supported each other as a team, and did everything, and more, that a coach could possibly ask of them.”
News of this outstanding success spread rapidly across the College of Law. A sampling of the kudos to coach and team:
