Law Students from Loyola Win First Ever National Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare & Adoption Law

March 16, 2006

Law students from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, made up of Dina Rachford and Katie Vannuchi, coached by Professor Ray Chao, bested 18 other teams from law schools across the United States on Saturday in the nation’s first ever law school moot court competition focused on child welfare and adoption issues. The team from University of Dayton School of Law (Ohio) made up of Jonathan Hung, Mike Schuler, and Emily Sluk, made it to the final round, but their arguments weren’t quite enough to sway the distinguished panel of final round judges their way. The team from Northern Kentucky University Law School (Highland Heights, KY), Jennifer Hedge and Leanne Gagliardi, finished third, with St. John’s Law School (Jamaica, N.Y.), Marilyn Fillingeri and Yakov Pyetranker, finishing fourth.

There was a tie for Best Oral Advocate between Ms. Rachford and Ms. Vannucchi, with third place going to Mr. Schuler.

The competing law students gathered in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11 to present legal arguments regarding “Assisted Reproduction, Privacy, and Wrongful Adoption.” “Hosting this new, annual, national competition is another part of our work to advance legal education related to adoption and child welfare law,” said Professor Kent Markus, Director of Capital University Law School’s National Center for Adoption Law and Policy (NCALP). The competition was hosted by NCALP and the Capital University Law School Moot Court Board in partnership with four of the nation’s leading child advocacy organizations:

• The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges,
• The ABA Center on Children and the Law,
• The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, and
• The National Association of Counsel for Children.

Each of the national competition partners sent a leadership official to serve as a final round judge. Justice Maureen O’Connor, of the Supreme Court of Ohio, who presided over the final round, expressed her enthusiasm about her duties at this first in the nation event. "I am always impressed with the quality advocacy demonstrated in law school moot court competition," said Justice Maureen O'Connor of the Supreme Court of Ohio. "The students are well prepared, professional, and possess a firm grasp on the subject matter. This year’s Child Welfare and Adoption Law Competition participants offered lively advocacy on a topic that provokes strong feelings and great public interest. I thoroughly enjoyed presiding over the final round of competition."

Hurricane Katrina didn’t stop the students at Tulane Law School from sending a team to the competition. Although they were registered at various different law schools last fall, the Tulane team members determined that they were not going to let the storm – or their temporary enrollment at separate law schools – interfere with their desire to participate in this new competition. While studying at Emory Law School in Georgia, Carine Rosalie-Marion pulled teammates together by email and notified the competition coordinators at Capital Law School that if they could find the registration fee, they would enter the competition. Capital University Law School Dean Jack Guttenberg immediately determined to waive their entrance fee for the competition. “If they could put a team together across several states, I certainly wasn’t going to let our competition fee stand in the way of their participation. “ “We’re thrilled that they were able to come,” said Dean Guttenberg. The Doubletree Suites hotel also made free rooms available to the Tulane team for their stay during the competition.

How adoption laws intersect with the new technological frontiers of assisted reproduction formed the basis of the problem the law students confronted in this year’s competition. In December, registered teams were given their first glimpse of the case they would have to argue before the fictional Supreme Court of Capitana. After writing a brief to the court – an important part of their competition score -- teams practiced their arguments week after week, knowing they need to be fully prepared to argue both sides of the case during different rounds of the competition.

The problem involved a fictitious statute which stated that frozen embryos can only be transferred through formal adoption procedures. More than 100 volunteers signed up to help produce the competition. Law professors, judges and lawyers from around the country served as volunteer judges of the student written briefs. More than 70 judges, magistrates and lawyers served on Friday and Saturday as oral argument judges with dozens of Capital Law Students working as bailiffs, timers and competition staff. “We couldn’t produce a national competition like this without hundreds and hundreds of volunteer hours from the local and national legal community – we’re deeply grateful for their help,” said Professor Kent Markus, Director of the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy at Columbus’ Capital University Law School.

The law schools participating were:

• Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio
• The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois;
• Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois (sending 2 teams);
• The Northern Kentucky University – Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Highland Heights, Kentucky (sending 2 teams);
• Rutgers University School of Law (both Camden and Newark, New Jersey campuses);
• The Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Lansing, Michigan;
• Touro College - Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, Huntington, New York;
• Tulane University Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana;
• St. John’s University School of Law, Jamaica, New York (sending 2 teams);
• University of Dayton School of Law, Dayton, Ohio;
• University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Detroit, Michigan (sending 2 teams);
• University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan;
• University of Missouri Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri;
• Widener University School of Law, Wilmington, Delaware.

All preliminary rounds were held in Ohio Senate and Ohio House Hearing Rooms at the Ohio Statehouse, on Friday March 10. The semi-final and the final round were held at the Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio Judicial Center. Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor presented the national champion, runner-up and best oral advocate awards at the end of the competition.