By Chelsea Stein
Michigan State University’s College of Law has once again been recognized as a national leader for its moot court program. The 2025-26 rankings, released by the University of Houston Law Center’s Blakely Advocacy Institute on April 24, place MSU at No. 6. Among the nation’s top 200 law schools, MSU has ranked No. 1 in 2020, 2024, and 2025.
“MSU College of Law has once again risen to the top in Moot Court competitions,” said Dean Michael Sant’Ambrogio. “A huge congratulations goes to all the students who participated, as well as the many coaches and faculty mentors.”
This ranking marks MSU Law’s seventh consecutive year in the top 16. To be considered the best, schools earn points for their performance at national and regional moot court competitions, which focus on both written and oral advocacy.
Spartan lawyers had a successful year in the 2025-26 season, winning three national competitions and two regional competitions. In addition, students earned four best brief awards and three best oralist awards across these events, as well as seven national semifinal finishes and four regional semifinal finishes.
“Sixty students participated in MSU’s moot court program in 2025-26,” said Jennifer Copland, associate clinical professor of law and director of MSU Law’s competitions program. “Twenty of those students, or a third of those who competed, claimed competition victories sufficient to add to MSU’s program ranking this year.”
The moot court program at MSU Law compels second- and third-year students to prepare briefs and argue both sides of complicated legal issues before an appellate court. It’s an intense and rewarding training ground for future lawyers.
Copland says teams are selected through an application and tryout process that takes place each April for the competition season that launches the following fall. Selected students receive experiential learning credits (on a mandatory pass/fail basis) and the opportunity to engage in rigorous and exceptional skills-building experiences.
Depending on the type of competition, students learn advanced legal research and writing techniques and work to improve their oral argument, public speaking and negotiation skills – all while competing against other top law schools at more than 20 moot court competitions, in addition to trial, arbitration and negotiation competitions.
A hallmark of MSU’s moot court program is its community of supporters, coaches and mentors who help the teams prepare and ultimately succeed. This year, more than 24 professors, alumni, practitioners and MSU friends served as coaches and advisors across moot court, trial and arbitration competitions.
“The students on our Board of Advocates worked incredibly hard this year,” said Copland. “As always, there is a degree of luck involved and we had three competitions this year with procedural errors that disadvantaged our teams. But the students took it in stride and vowed to come back even stronger next year. Our competitors are the true embodiment of ‘Spartans Will.’”
Spartans Shine in 2025-26
Below are selected highlights showcasing MSU Law’s success in the 2025-26 moot court competition season.
National champions:
Fall 2025
- Benedict Nsenga, ’26 , Nygie Rhodes, ’26, Daria Lindquist, ’26, at the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition
- Nayeli Diaz, ’26, Rachel Woods, '26, and Skyla Snable, ’26, at the Zehmer Workers Compensation Moot Court Competition, hosted by the Workers’ Compensation Institute
Spring 2026
- Sara Ojala, ’27, Kaeli Gard, ’27, and Grace Gorsline, ’27, at the National Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare and Adoption Law, hosted at the Capital University Law School
- Runners Up: Natalie Prestegaard, ’27, and Aubrey Brolsma, ’27, at MSU Law’s Gender and Sexuality Moot Court Competition
Regional champions:
Spring 2026
- Lucas Jorgens, ’27, Nicky Lee, ’27, and Rachel Woods, ’26, at the National Appellate Advocacy Competition, hosted by the American Bar Association
- Katherine Held, ’26, Prabhjit Sangha, ’27, and Jack Halford, ’27, at the Shapero Cup Regional Moot Court Competition, hosted by the American Bankruptcy Institute
Awarded best brief:
Fall 2025
- 1st place: Nayeli Diaz, ’26, Skyla Snable, ’26, and Leo Kresch, ’26, at the Billings, Exum, and Frye National Moot Court Competition, hosted by the Elon University School of Law
- 1st place: Gabby Sheets, ’26, and Mallory Kean, ’26, at the Zehmer Workers Compensation Moot Court Competition
- 2nd place: Benedict Nsenga, ’26, Nygie Rhodes, ’26, and Daria Lindquist, ’26, at the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition
- 5th place: Rory Spence, ’26, and Anthony Spizziri, ’26, at the Wechsler First Amendment Moot Court Competition, hosted at American University
Spring 2026
- 1st place: Sara Ojala, ’27, Kaeli Gard, ’27, and Grace Gorsline, ’27, at the National Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare and Adoption Law
- 1st place: Rory Spence, ’26, Madelyn Heisler, ’27, and Jacklyn Knapp, ’27, at the John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Mort Court Competition, hosted by Seton Hall University School of Law
Awarded best oralist:
Spring 2026
- 1st place: Sara Ojala, ’27, at the National Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare and Adoption Law (best final round oralist)
- 1st place: Rachel Woods, ’26, at the National Appellate Advocacy Competition, Las Vegas Regional
- 2nd place: Aubrey Brolsma, ’27, at MSU Law’s Gender and Sexuality Moot Court Competition
- 1st place: Katherine Held, ’26, at the Shapero Cup Regional Moot Court Competition
- 2nd place: Prabhjit Sangha, ’27, at the Shapero Cup Regional Moot Court Competition
For more details on the national 2025-26 Moot Court Program Rankings, visit law.uh.edu.