The John Marshall Law School Moot Court Honors Program

Moot Court Honors Program

Teams » Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition

This competition is sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of the Chicago Bar Association and takes place in the Dirksen Federal Building each November. The competition simulates an appellate argument before the Supreme Court of the United States.

The recent topics have been as follows: (1) whether an extra-jurisdictional arrest performed by a security officer violated the Fourth Amendment; (2) whether a state broadcast of the execution of a condemned prisoner live over the internet violates the First Amendment rights of the prisoner; and (3) whether the Safer Schools Anti-Terrorism Act, which banned the possession of certain items on school grounds, was constitutional.

» Visit the competition website

In 2011, Florence Pittman, Robin Sowizrol, and Alexandros Stamatoglou had the second-best brief and were Octofinalists. In 2010, Amy Cullnan, Ramon Estrada, and Jason Veit were Octofinalists. In 2009, Colleen DeRosa and Phillip Murante were Quarterfinalists and won the Best Brief award; Whitney Hutchinson and Phillip Nava were Octofinalists. In 2008, Clinton M. Crosier and Omar Sweiss were Quarterfinalists, and Justin J. Garcia, Marcos E. Esparza, and Karl H. Mundt advanced to the octofinal round. In 2006, Adrienne Detanico and Francella Ochillo advanced to Quarterfinals and won Best Brief. In 2005, Kathleen Cassani, Timothy O'Shea, and Colleen Tierney placed third in the competition, won Best Brief, and Kathleen Cassani was awarded Second Best Oralist.