Behind the Blog

Hello all! It’s been a while since I have filled you all in on how my life is going as I navigate the legal world and all that law school has to offer.

I have been busier than I ever thought possible. The saying goes “second year of law school they work you to death,” and I think I have to agree with them. This semester I am taking four classes, as well as serving as a Teaching Assistant and as a member of Stetson’s renowned Moot Court Board.

In addition to my coursework, I work part-time for Marcie, and I also serve as a Research Assistant for a Constitutional Law professor at Stetson. Did I mention I pet sit on the side too?

I had a very exciting February. Being on Stetson’s Moot Court Board is an incredible honor and I wanted to take today to explain what exactly Moot Court is, what I do, and what exciting things have been happening for my team and me.

Moot Court is a simulated court hearing experience at the appellate level. Teams/individuals write briefs and then present oral arguments before a panel of judges against an opposing team. Stetson is ranked one of the top advocacy schools in the nation, and our Moot Court board has a long history of winning and representing Stetson at some of the highest levels.

On Moot Court you can be a part of many teams. The Veteran’s Team, Environmental Law Team, Bankruptcy Team, and many more.

I was given the incredible honor of being chosen to be a part of Stetson’s prestigious Jessup team. Jessup is unlike any other team, as it deals with public international law. It is one of the longest, and dare I say hardest Moot Court teams to be a part of.

Jessup is quite different than other competitions. Here, teams of four (plus a researcher) are split into two sides and each must write a memorial detailing four issues that will be argued before the International Court of Justice. My teammate Tabby and I are on the Applicant side, and our teammates Remee and Lilly are on the Respondent side. We argue the same four issues, but each side argues that the other has violated international law. Issues can range from cybercrime, diplomatic status, sovereignty, and many other topics in the public international law sphere. Sara is our incredible researcher who helped fill the gaps and bolster arguments as we wrote our memorials and prepared for the competition. She is quite literally the glue that holds the team together. From last-minute printing to extra research, to just being there for moral support, we couldn't do this without her. 

Let me just take a moment to say I have the absolute BEST team. Lilly is a 3L and the rest of us are 2Ls. I could not have asked for a better group of advocates, colleagues, and friends to take this journey with. We have laughed together, cried together, and learned more about international law than any of us ever expected to. We have two incredible coaches who go above and beyond to make sure that we are prepared, act as soundboards, and give up time out of their busy schedules to make sure that we are preparing to be the best advocates to represent Stetson.

Teams write their memorials during the fall and then submit them in January. We have been working since September to prepare for this competition. After that, the hard, but fun, work begins. Each half of the team must prepare to speak for 45 minutes on the issues. Stetson’s oral argument practices started in January with 2-hour practices during the week in the evenings and 3-hour full team practices on the weekends. At practice, teams argue against one another to prepare for facing our opponents at the competition.

The Jessup is conducted worldwide, with each country holding qualifying rounds with only the top teams advancing to the International/Worlds rounds where countries will compete against each other. Due to COVID-19, this year’s Jessup is completely virtual using an online platform. Because Jessup is more prestigious each speaker is referred to as “agent” instead of “counsel” and each judge is referred to as “your excellency” instead of “your honor”

On February 18th, my teammates and I gathered with our two coaches and Stetson/Jessup alums for a long weekend of competition. The preliminary rounds consisted of 87 schools from all over the United States. On Friday night Remee and Lilly competed against a team from New England Law School. Saturday morning, Tabby and I competed against New York Law school and later that day Remee and Lilly competed against Brooklyn Law School. Tabby and I would go on to close out the weekend Sunday morning as we competed against Case Western Reserve University.

Each round had judges from all over the world who would test our skills, bring out the best in us, and end each round with feedback, constructive criticism, and advice moving forward. After Tabby and I finished, the anxious wait began. In order to move to advanced rounds, each team’s presentation would be scored, the four performances averaged, as well as each individual speaker scored. This would then be added with the memorial score from the memorials submitted in January. The top 32 teams were to be announced Sunday evening, and they would move on to advanced rounds the following weekend.

That night, on Zoom, we were thrilled to find out that Stetson had made the cut to move on to advanced rounds! The following week was chaos, as we scrambled to refine our arguments, practice, attend class, and prepare for another long weekend of competition.

The advanced rounds are slightly different from the preliminary rounds. In preliminary rounds, Tabby and I performed twice, and Remee and Lilly performed twice with our scores averaged. In advanced rounds, it is single elimination so one-half of our team competes in each round that we move on to. Tabby and I found out that we had the honor of competing Friday evening. If we could win the round, we would make it to the top 16.

Top 16 in the United States sounds pretty great, but it gets even better. If you advance to the top 16, you automatically make it to the International/World rounds in March regardless of whether you are #1 or #16 in the nation. Needless to say, Tabby and I were quite nervous going into Friday. After what was a tough but hard-fought round against Suffolk University, we waited with anticipation while the judges deliberated. After they returned and gave their feedback, we found out that in a 2-1 vote we had won and made it to International rounds!

This also meant that we would advance to the octo-final rounds to determine what our ranking would be in the nation. Remee and Lilly represented Stetson and made our team proud Saturday afternoon. They had formidable opponents from George Washington University, and gave excellent arguments, but sadly we were eliminated. Though we were finished competing for that weekend, we were still going to Internationals!

This is Stetson’s first time moving to the International rounds since 2015 and only the fourth time the Stetson’s Jessup team has made it to Internationals!

We are taking the week off practice to refocus and refine our arguments, but next week its back to the grind as we prepare to represent Stetson, and the United States at the International rounds at the end of March.

This has certainly been one of my hardest law school undertakings yet, but I have learned so much and made incredible friends along the way. It has truly tested my limits, but I know that it is making me a better lawyer in the long run, and wouldn’t trade the sleepless nights or team bonding for anything.

I can’t wait to update you all after we compete at the end of this month. Internationals, here we come!

Hope you enjoyed this update from the girl behind the blog. Have a wonderful March all!