College of Law

MSU Moot Court Team Wins Chicago Bar Association Competition

MSU College of Law gained yet another moot court title after winning the Chicago Bar Association Moot Court Competition in Chicago (held November 13-14, 2015), arguing before high-profile judges, academics, and practitioners.

3Ls Hailey Kimball, Chris Michels, and Ivan Gonzalez prevailed in the final round against a Texas A&M team. Final round judges included the Honorable William J. Bauer (United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit), Dean Vikram David Amar (Dean of the University of Illinois College of Law and the Iwan Foundation Professor of Law), the Honorable Patricia S. Spratt (Cook County Circuit Court, 7th Subcircuit), and attorney Thomas Weber (Winston & Strawn LLP).

The competition required students to brief and argue issues involving the constitutionality of compelled warnings on cigarette packaging. Students were tasked with resolving a circuit split concerning the constitutionality of graphic warning requirements. They argued both sides of the problem, alternatively representing both the fictitious government agency responsible for the warning requirement as well as the tobacco company asserting the First Amendment challenge.

"The CBA victory marked the third moot court competition in a row that MSU moot court teams won this year," said Professor Jennifer Copland, who coached the team in Chicago. "We have so many talented and hardworking students, and this team is no exception. They all worked incredibly hard and it paid off in the end."

The team was assisted in oral argument practice rounds prior to competition by Professor Copland as well as Professors Mae Kuykendall, Paul Stokstad, Ann Sherman, and Jessica Zimbelman.