MOOT COURT
The Murphy Family Endowed Moot Court Board is the principal oral advocacy organization at 奶糖直播 Law.
The Moot Court Board aims to enhance and showcase the appellate advocacy skills of our students. Members have the opportunity to showcase their appellate advocacy and writing skills by competing in various national competitions. Students argue cases involving constitutional law, criminal procedure, sports law, entertainment law, family law, immigration law and more in front of distinguished panels of judges against law students from around the country.
ABOUT THE BOARD
Jillian Updegraff '25
Chairperson
Hometown: Coudersport, PA
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Lafayette College, Class of 2022
Areas of Interest: Civil Litigation; Appellate Advocacy; Constitutional Law
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, First Place Winner & Best Final Round Oralist; Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition, Competitor
Interests Outside of Law School: skiing, golfing, baking, going to trivia with friends and doing crossword puzzles
Taylor Bellardino '25
Vice Chairperson
Hometown: Parsippany, NJ
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Fairleigh Dickinson University, Class of 2022
Areas of Interest: Civil Litigation
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: Federal Bar Association Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition, Quarterfinalist and First Place Overall Oralist Award; 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Quarterfinalist
Interests Outside of Law School: Learning about space exploration, spending time with family, horseback riding and cats
Sam Rollick '25
Reimel Administrator
Hometown: Exeter, NH
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Southern New Hampshire University, Class of 2022
Areas of Interest: Criminal Law and Litigation
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Round of Twelve; Federal Bar Association Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition, Quarterfinalist
Interests Outside of Law School: Meme manufacturing, skipping rocks, coin collecting, responding to emails, unicycling, debating unimportant topics.
Daniel Rooney '25
Reimel Administrator
Hometown: Rochester, NY
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Providence College, Class of 2021
Areas of Interest: Litigation, Civil Rights, Appellate Advocacy, Constitutional Law
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, First Place Winner; Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition, Competitor
Interests Outside of Law School: music, running, golf and cooking
Elizabeth Henning '25
Director of External Competitions
Hometown: Danville, PA
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Ithaca College, Class of 2022
Areas of Interest: Public interest litigation, specifically family law and immigration
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Competitor; 2024 American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition, 9th Best Advocate Philadelphia Regionals
Interests Outside of Law School: traveling, hiking, camping and knitting
Giavanna Litz '25
Director of External Competitions
Hometown: Schnecksville, PA
Undergraduate Institution and Year: University of Pittsburgh, Class of 2022
Areas of Interest: Litigation, Healthcare Law, Employment Law
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Quarterfinalist; 48th Annual Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Competition, Competitor
Interests Outside of Law School: playing soccer, cooking, baking and traveling through Europe
Morgan Hill '25
Director of Recruitment, Retention and Inclusion
Hometown: Randallstown, MD
Undergraduate Institution and Year: 奶糖直播 University, Class of 2022
Areas of Interest: Litigation, Labor & Employment, Civil Rights
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Quarterfinalist; 48th Annual Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Competition, Competitor
Interests Outside of Law School: sports, reading, spending quality time with family and volunteering with my sorority
Courtney Culhane '25
Hometown: Scituate, MA
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Cornell University, Class of 2014
Areas of Interest: Veterans Law and Advocacy, Military Justice Reform
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Competitor; 2024 American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition, Competitor
Interests Outside of Law School: weightlifting, music, my dog
Kelly Gurcsik '25
Hometown: Collingswood, NJ
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Fordham University, Class of 2022
Areas of Interest: Litigation, Healthcare Law
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Competitor
Interests Outside of Law School: working out, cooking and playing with my kitten
Victoria Pe帽a-Parr '25
Hometown: Carlsbad, NM
Undergraduate Institution and Year: University of New Mexico, Class of 2020
Areas of Interest: Impact Litigation within Public Interest and Appellate Advocacy
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Semifinalist; Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition, Competitor
Interests Outside of Law School: cooking, traveling and going to concerts
Andrea Soli虂s Canto '25
Hometown: Guadalajara, Mexico & Boise, ID
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Xavier University, Class of 2019
Areas of Interest: Immigration Law, Public Interest
Competition Experience and Corresponding Competition Rank: 64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition, Semifinalist; Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition, Competitor
Interests Outside of Law School: running, hiking and trying new restaurants
Arielle Jackson '26
Hometown: Upper Marlboro, MD
Undergraduate Institution and Year: University of Maryland, Class of 2021
Areas of Interest: Public Interest, Labor & Employment, Civil Rights
Interests Outside of Law School: reading, trying new restaurants, traveling and true crime podcasts
Claire Sprang '26
Hometown: North Wales, PA
Undergraduate Institution and Year: Kutztown University of Pennsylvania 2023
Areas of Interest: Estate planning and administration, Litigation
Interests Outside of Law School: drawing, music, foreign language
Seth Winigrad '26
Hometown: Penn Valley, PA
Undergraduate Institution and Year: George Washington University, Class of 2023
Areas of Interest: Criminal law, White Collar criminal law, Constitutional law, public interest, civil rights
Interests Outside of Law School: Trying new foods, trivia, skiing, hiking, golf, board games, party games, philosophy, Philly sports
Chairperson
The chairperson manages all members of the 奶糖直播 Law Moot Court Board. The chairperson acts as the point-person between the Moot Court Board and the greater law school and administration. Additionally, the chairperson oversees all planning, coordination, expenditures and communication for the internal competition, external competitions and additional extracurriculars.
Vice Chairperson
The vice chairperson assists the chairperson and all other executive board members to successfully complete their tasks. The vice chairperson frequently acts as an intermediary for the chairperson, other executive board members and other Moot Court board members, keeping the communication and relationships among the board strong. Additionally, the vice chairperson maintains relationships with the Moot Court Board's alumni, assists with organizing alumni events and connects current members with alumni in their interested fields."
External Competition Coordinators
The external competition coordinators are responsible for organizing the Moot Court Board鈥檚 participation in competitions across the country, including submitting applications, organizing travel and determining who competes at which competitions. The external competition coordinators also play a role in judging the summer competition and determining the pairing and coaching assignments.
Reimels Administrators
The Reimels administrators work with Professor Jessica Webb and coordinate her fall LW3鈥揕itigation/Appellate Advocacy course with the Moot Court Board's Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition. The Reimels administrators are in charge of not only the logistics of the competition but also grading competitor briefs, providing feedback to Professor Webb on the competition problem prior to the fall semester and engaging with students in the 2L class competing in the competition.
Director of Recruitment, Retention and Inclusion
The director of recruitment, retention and inclusion plans, executes and oversees the administration of the annual summer competition鈥攖he primary means to gain membership to the Moot Court Board. Additionally, the director plans and executes events aimed at promoting Board unity and retention. The director also oversees the Moot Court Board's DEI Committee and directs all diversity and inclusion initiatives to recruit diverse members and engage with 奶糖直播 Law's various affinity groups.
Students can attain membership on the Moot Court Board in one of two ways:
- Competing in the annual Moot Court Summer Competition; or
- Stellar performance in the intra-school Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition.
Summer Competition
The Director of Recruitment and Alumni Relations organizes a competition for rising 2L and 3L students to compete for membership on the Moot Court Board. Each competitor writes an appellate brief and argues on-brief in front of the Executive Board, a panel of five members. The oral argument is 12 minutes and is followed by a short interview. The brief and oral argument are each worth 50% of the overall competition score. The Moot Court Board selects approximately 10-12 new members from this competitive process. Although students may try out for Moot Court Board and the 奶糖直播 Law Review write-on, students who join Moot Court Board cannot jalso join a journal.
Reimel Competition
The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Board may decide to extend an invitation for Membership on the Moot Court Board after stellar performance in the Reimel Competition. The Moot Court Board may choose to select one competitor in a team or both partners in a team. This decision is made after considering a team鈥檚 brief score, oral argument performance and advancement in the competition.
First-Year Member Responsibilities:
- Compete in Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition in the Fall
All first-year Moot Court board members are required to compete in the fall intraschool competition in preparation for their spring outside competitions. The first-year Moot Court board members participate in the intraschool competition in tandem with enrollment in the LW3鈥揕itigation/Appellate Advocacy course with Professor Webb. - Compete in External Competitions in the Spring
Each first-year Moot Court board member competes with a partner at a national moot court competition. The Moot Court board members are tasked with competing against other schools鈥 Moot Court teams at national competitions hosted by various law schools. Competing in an external competition will require members to write an appellate brief and argue before distinguished panels of judges. - Assist with the 1L Legal Writing Program in the Spring
The Moot Court Board helps the first-year legal writing faculty members administer and judge the first-year law students鈥 spring semester oral arguments. Each Moot Court board member provides constructive feedback to first-year students to assist in preparation for their graded arguments.
Second-Year Member Responsibilities:
- Mentor First-Year Board Members Throughout the Year
Each second-year Moot Court board member will mentor a first-year member throughout the year. The mentor will help their mentee review strategies for improvement, provide general advice, check in on the mentee鈥檚 mental health and well-being and provide a strong support system. - Compete in External Competitions in the Fall or Spring
Each Moot Court board member competes with a partner at a national Moot Court competition. The Moot Court board members are tasked with competing against other schools鈥 Moot Court teams at national competitions hosted by various law schools. Competing in an external competition will require members to write an appellate brief and argue before distinguished panels of judges. - Coach First-Year Members in External Competitions in the Spring
Each second-year Moot Court board member competes and serves as a student coach for a first-year or second-year team. Coaches organize oral argument practice schedules and coordinate with faculty, alumni and subject matter experts to assist with judging practice rounds in order to best prepare the Moot Court board members for their competitions. - Assist with the 1L Legal Writing Program in the Spring
The Moot Court Board helps the first-year legal writing faculty members administer and judge the first-year law students鈥 spring semester oral arguments. Each Moot Court board member provides constructive feedback to first-year students to assist in preparation for their graded arguments.
COMPETITIONS
Each year, the Moot Court Board competes in 奶糖直播 Law's annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition as well as a number of external competitions.
2023 Reimel Moot Court Competition winners, Daniel Rooney ’25 and Jillian Updegraff ’25, pictured with the final round judges
The Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition is an annual intra-school tournament and a hallowed tradition at 奶糖直播 Law. Named in honor of the late Theodore L. Reimel, Judge for the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas from 1953 to 1973, the competition is designed to foster student development in written and oral advocacy through simulated appellate argument. Many alumni and other esteemed members of the legal community come to the law school to judge the oral arguments and provide advice and feedback to our students.
In 2015, the Reimel Competition was integrated with the LW3鈥揕itigation/Appellate Advocacy course to provide second-year students with a more comprehensive, authentic and practice-oriented educational experience. Students enrolled in Appellate Advocacy participate in Reimels as part of the course. Third-year students are also encouraged to participate in the competition. All participants work in teams of two and are required to write an appellate brief and participate in oral arguments.
2L students enrolled in Legal Writing III: Litigation/Appellate Advocacy compete in teams of two writing an appellate brief and arguing twice (once on-brief and once off-brief) in the preliminary round of the competition. The top-scoring teams advance to the elimination rounds of the competition. 奶糖直播 alumni, professors, local practitioners, and distinguished federal and state judges serve as panelists in the intra-school competition.
64th Annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition
Champions
Daniel Rooney 鈥25 & Jillian Updegraff 鈥25
Awards
Best Final Round Oralist: Jillian Updegraff 鈥25
Best Brief: Lily Beck 鈥25 & Noah Swanson 鈥25
Second Best Brief: Kaitlyn Furst 鈥25 & Jillian Rotman 鈥25
Third Best Brief: Rachel Goldstein 鈥25 & Anthony Ryback 鈥25
Best Preliminary Round Oralist: Rachel Phillips 鈥25
Judges
Final Round Bench
- The Honorable Pamela A. Harris, United States Circuit Judge for the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- The Honorable Fabiana Pierre-Louis, Justice for the Supreme Court of New Jersey
- The Honorable David Wecht, Justice for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Semi-finals Bench
- The Honorable Kai Scott, United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- The Honorable Gerald J. Pappert 鈥85 BA, United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- The Honorable Maria McLaughlin, Judge for the Pennsylvania Superior Court
1961-62: Robert J. Bray 鈥62 and John J. Duffy 鈥62
1962-63: Kenneth N. Garber 鈥63 and Robert Silverberg 鈥64
1963-64: Richard H. Roesgen 鈥64 and Thomas M. Twardowski 鈥65
1964-65: Charles A. Haddad 鈥66 and Eugene D. Silverman 鈥66
1965-66: Anthony B. Agnew 鈥67 and Barton A. Pasternak 鈥67
1966-67: Edward R. Murphy 鈥67 and Patrick J. O鈥機onnor 鈥67
1967-68: Joseph R. Lally 鈥69 and Edward S. Panek 鈥69
1968-69: Joseph D. Casey III 鈥70 and Samuel J. Knox 鈥70
1969-70: Joseph T. Sebastianelli 鈥71 and Leonard N. Zito 鈥71
1970-71: John P. Moses 鈥71 and Thomas J. O鈥橬eill 鈥68 VSB, 鈥71 CWSL
1971-72: Alan R. Jackman 鈥63 CLAS, 鈥72 CWSL and John W. Nails 鈥72
1972-73: Paul R. Beckert 鈥73 and John C. Gabroy 鈥73
1973-74:Judith R. Forman 鈥75 and Lise Luborsky 鈥75
1974-75: Joseph F. Lawless 鈥76 and David E. Worby 鈥76
1975-76: Patricia H. Burrall 鈥76 and J. Keath Fetter 鈥76
1976-77: James F. Guidera 鈥75 CLAS, 鈥78 CWSL and Dennis C. McAndrews 鈥78
1977-78: James M. Baker 鈥78 and Frederick J. Lauten 鈥79
1978-79: Nancy A. Ezold 鈥80 and Susan T. Fletcher 鈥80
1979-80: Kenwyn M. Dougherty 鈥80 and Richard L. McMonigle 鈥80
1980-81: Joseph C. Kohn 鈥82 and Lisa Palfy 鈥82
1981-82: Brian L. Lincicome 鈥82 and Jeffrey A. Lutsky 鈥82
1982-83: Michael J. Robinson 鈥84 and Andrew G. Siegeltuch 鈥84
1983-84: Sylvia T. Nisenbaum 鈥85 and Nancy H. Redd 鈥85
1984-85: Barbara A. O鈥機onnell 鈥86 and Pamela L. Pentin 鈥86
1985-86: Libby A. White 鈥86 and David J. Wiedis 鈥86
1986-87: Lisa M. McCausland 鈥88 and Rosemary Pinto 鈥88
1987-88: Timothy J. Jaeger 鈥88 and Nina A. Kannatt 鈥88
1988-89: Richard E. Ruffee 鈥90 and Neil W. Townsend 鈥90
1989-90: Linda J. Ferrara 鈥91 and Rosemary D. Halligan 鈥91
1990-91: Robert J. Bohner Jr. 鈥91 and Leslie M. Gillin 鈥91
1991-92: Martin S. Lessner 鈥92 and Eric G. Zajac 鈥92
1992-93: Kelly Ann Connors 鈥94 and Michele C. Wiener 鈥94
1993-94: David A. Aikens 鈥94 and Michelle M. Aldrich 鈥94
1994-95: Joanne M. Judge 鈥96 and Barbara A. Williams 鈥96
1995-96: Michelle M. Lombardo 鈥88 BA, 鈥91 MS, 鈥97 CWSL and Jayne Y. Risk 鈥97
1996-97: Daniel J. Barry 鈥98 and Ronald D. Gale 鈥97
1997-98: Diane P. Carman 鈥89 CLAS, 鈥98 CWSL and Jennifer J. Clark 鈥98
1998-99: Tomika N. Stevens 鈥03 and Melissa H. Witsil 鈥00
1999-00: Maureen Q. Dwyer 鈥01 and Tracy D. Laskowski 鈥01
2000-01: Dennis L. Abramson 鈥01 and Andrew J. DiSanto 鈥01
2001-02 Kimberly A. Eger 鈥02 and Steven S. Poulathas 鈥99 VSB, 鈥02 CWSL
2002-03: Katherine J. Greger 鈥03 and William C. Root 鈥98 VSB, 鈥03 CWSL
2003-04: LeeAnn L. Gurysh 鈥05 and Christina M. Hanna 鈥05
2004-05: Edward J. Heffernan 鈥06 and Jonathan B. Ortiz 鈥06
2005-06: Christina M. Maron 鈥07 and Lindsay D. Varcoe 鈥07
2006-07: Bethany L. Deal 鈥05 CLAS, 鈥08 CWSL and Brian A. Pelloni 鈥08
2007-08: Michael J. Hoffman 鈥09 and Kelly M. Immordino 鈥09
2008-09: Brittany A. Koscher 鈥10 and Sean P. Philbin 鈥05 CLAS, 鈥10 CWSL
2009-10: Stephen E. Luttrell 鈥11 and Daniel A. Strumpf 鈥11
2010-11: John Mitchell Morris 鈥12 and Julia C. Young 鈥12
2011-12: Richard D. Eiszner 鈥05 CLAS, 鈥13 CWSL and Andrea E. May 鈥13
2012-13: Stephen J. McCloskey 鈥14 and Ashley M. Toczylowski 鈥14
2013-14: William G. Burrows 鈥15 and Mark R. Hewlett 鈥15
2014-15: Bethany E. Brooks 鈥15 and Nicole K. Pedi 鈥15
2015-16: Joshua Jacobs 鈥17 and Eugene Tsvilik 鈥17
2016-17: Sarah Burke 鈥18 and Kaitlyn Macaulay 鈥18
2017-18: Steven Lee 鈥19 and Daniel Sulvetta 鈥19
2018-19: Vanessa Huber '20 and Scott Zlotnick '19
2019-20: CC Carreras '21 and Karina Norwood '21
2020-21: Annalise Hodges '22 and Tasha Stoltzfus Nankerville '22
2021-22: Alexandra Romano 鈥23 and Isabelle Roman 鈥23
2022-23: Daniel Goldfield 鈥24 and Anna O'Brien 鈥24
Last year 奶糖直播 Law鈥檚 Moot Court board members found success in various national appellate advocacy competitions, where they faced teams from law schools across the country. Each team consisted of two students from the Moot Court Board, the principal oral advocacy organization at 奶糖直播 Law which aims to enhance and showcase students鈥 courtroom advocacy skills.
Participants analyzed and argued cutting-edge legal issues for hypothetical cases, from either the plaintiffs鈥 side or the defendants鈥. They used procedures modeled after those employed in state and federal appellate courts.
This year, the Moot Court Board is excited to return to in-person external competitions and continue to meet success!