The Moot Court Final Four Competition

On Thursday of this week, I had the privilege of attending the "Moot Court Final Four Competition" at the Florida Supreme Court.

The event featured four of my classmates, Tiffany Roddenberry, Thomas Philpot, Brian Bohm and Lauren Davis as they argued a fictitious case on appeal before the Justices of the Florida Supreme Court (I realize that I have just created a Google "hit" on the web for these four students, and I hope they won't mind if they ever read this. If they do, they can Facebook message me and I will take it down).

For those who do not know, Moot Court is a prestigious extra-curricular activity in law schools. After graduation, it is called appellate law. Most people on the street are familiar with trial law- those cases that take place in front of a jury. Moot Court, however, involves the potential next step after the trial has come to a close and the jury has rendered a verdict. Moot Court is the appeal.

For example, what if you lost your case, but you think the judge made an error during the trial? Perhaps he/she kept out evidence that was essential to your case. Perhaps he interpreted the law incorrectly. The recourse is for you to appeal to the next highest court. Appellate law is a small niche in the overall scheme of what lawyers do (often the lawyers handling a case on appeal are not the same ones who argued it during the trial), but it takes highly intelligent people capable of writing well, speaking well, and thinking on their feet. In a regular trial, the lawyer argues before a jury and has to deal with "objections" from the other lawyer. But in appellate law and Moot Court, there is no jury. The lawyer submits a writing or "brief" beforehand to the appeals court, then stands at a podium before the panel of judges or justices and argues the issues in the brief, while at irregular intervals being interrupted by the justices with tough questions. Arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court are done by the country's best appellate lawyers.

The four students who argued before the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday were the top four finishers from last year's Moot Court tryouts at Florida State Law (I tried out for the Moot Court Team myself last year, but only advanced past the first round). As a "reward" for being the top four, they were given the chance to work hard all this semester getting ready for a competition amongst themselves-- to argue before the Florida Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court building is about a five minute walk from the law school in downtown Tallahassee. I went to the chamber of the Florida Supreme Court a couple of times this summer while working with the Summer for Undergraduates Program. When I walked into the large ornate room, full of oil canvas paintings, plush carpet, and a high ceiling on Thursday, I tried to put myself in the shoes of these students. My blood pressure immediately went up and I felt a catch in my throat.

Though I certainly would not have turned down the opportunity to do this competition myself if I had been asked, I cannot say that I envied these students. The courtroom was full with interested onlookers. When the Justices were ready to enter, a man called out in a loud voice, "All rise! Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The Supreme Court of Florida is now in session! All those having business before this Court draw near, give attention and ye shall be heard! God save the United States, the great state of Florida, and this Honorable Court!"

Intense.

The students were spectacular, and the Justices did not go easy on them. The fictitious case involved an arrest of a man at a routine traffic stop, a possible illegal search of his person, and then perhaps a Sixth Amendment violation of the Constitution when his admission to a cell mate was used to impeach him at trial.

The whole thing lasted about an hour. Lauren Davis won as best advocate. She certainly deserved the award, though I personally think the decision was very close.

I appreciate the hard work and the performances of my fellow students. Emily Whelchel and Jennifer Gutai, two of last year's Final Four participants, obviously did a great job of coaching these four. Mr. M. Stephen Turner, a partner at Broad and Cassel, sponsored the event, and he gave a nice speech at the reception afterwards about what an appellate lawyer goes through and what it takes to be a good appellate lawyer.

This is a great event, and the Moot Court Team at Florida State Law is a great organization. I encourage all of this year's 1Ls to put themselves through the fire of the tryouts and see if appellate law is an area where they can excel.

Universal Health Care Now,

Nathan Marshburn