MOOT COURT
°Õ³ó±ğÌıMurphy Family Endowed Moot Court BoardÌıis the principal oral advocacy organization at ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ Law.Ìı
The Moot Court Board aims to enhance and showcase the appellate advocacy skills of our students.ÌıMembers 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 catsÌı
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: ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ 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 Peña-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 SoliÌs 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 ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ 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.ÌıAdditionally, the vice chairpersonÌımaintains 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’s 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 ReimelsÌıadministrators work with Professor Jessica Webb and coordinate her fall LW3–Litigation/Appellate Advocacy course with the Moot Court Board's Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition. °Õ³ó±ğÌıReimels administratorsÌıare 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 overseesÌıthe administration of the annual summer competition—the 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 andÌıinclusion initiatives to recruit diverse members and engage with ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ 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 ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ Law Review write-on, students who join Moot Court Board cannot jalso join a journal. Ìı
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’s brief score, oral argument performance and advancement in the competition.Ìı
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–Litigation/Appellate Advocacy course with Professor Webb.ÌıÌı - 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’ 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’ 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’s 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’ 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’ spring semester oral arguments. Each Moot Court board member provides constructive feedback to first-year students to assist in preparation for their graded arguments.
Ìı Ìı Ìı
COMPETITIONS
Each year, the Moot Court Board competes in ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ Law's annual Theodore L. Reimel Moot Court Competition as well as a number of external competitions.
°Õ³ó±ğÌıTheodore L. Reimel Moot Court CompetitionÌıis an annual intra-school tournament and a hallowed tradition at ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ 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.ÌıMany 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–Litigation/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.Ìı 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. ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ 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 ’25 & Jillian Updegraff ’25
Awards
Best Final Round Oralist:ÌıJillian Updegraff ’25
Best Brief:ÌıLily Beck ’25 & Noah Swanson ’25
Second Best Brief:ÌıKaitlyn Furst ’25 & Jillian Rotman ’25
Third Best Brief: Rachel GoldsteinÌı’25 & Anthony Ryback ’25
Best Preliminary Round Oralist:ÌıRachel Phillips ’25
Judges
Final Round Bench
- The Honorable Pamela A. Harris,ÌıUnited 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,ÌıJustice for theÌıPennsylvania 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 ’85 BA,ÌıUnited States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- The Honorable Maria McLaughlin, Judge for the Pennsylvania Superior Court
1961-62:ÌıRobert J. Bray ’62 and John J. Duffy ’62
1962-63:ÌıKenneth N. Garber ’63 and Robert Silverberg ’64
1963-64:ÌıRichard H. Roesgen ’64 and Thomas M. Twardowski ’65
1964-65:ÌıCharles A. Haddad ’66 and Eugene D. Silverman ’66
1965-66: Anthony B. Agnew ’67 and Barton A. Pasternak ’67
1966-67:ÌıEdward R. Murphy ’67 and Patrick J. O’Connor ’67
1967-68:ÌıJoseph R. Lally ’69 and Edward S. Panek ’69
1968-69: Joseph D. Casey III ’70 and Samuel J. Knox ’70
1969-70:ÌıJoseph T. Sebastianelli ’71 and Leonard N. Zito ’71
1970-71:ÌıJohn P. Moses ’71 and Thomas J. O’Neill ’68 VSB, ’71 CWSL
1971-72:ÌıAlan R. Jackman ’63 CLAS, ’72 CWSL and John W. Nails ’72
1972-73:ÌıPaul R. Beckert ’73 and John C. Gabroy ’73
1973-74:Judith R. Forman ’75 and Lise Luborsky ’75
1974-75:ÌıJoseph F. Lawless ’76 and David E. Worby ’76
1975-76:ÌıPatricia H. Burrall ’76 and J. Keath Fetter ’76
1976-77:ÌıJames F. Guidera ’75 CLAS, ’78 CWSL and Dennis C. McAndrews ’78
1977-78:ÌıJames M. Baker ’78 and Frederick J. Lauten ’79
1978-79:ÌıNancy A. Ezold ’80 and Susan T. Fletcher ’80
1979-80:ÌıKenwyn M. Dougherty ’80 and Richard L. McMonigle ’80
1980-81:ÌıJoseph C. Kohn ’82 and Lisa Palfy ’82
1981-82:ÌıBrian L. Lincicome ’82 and Jeffrey A. Lutsky ’82
1982-83:ÌıMichael J. Robinson ’84 and Andrew G. Siegeltuch ’84
1983-84: Sylvia T. Nisenbaum ’85 and Nancy H. Redd ’85
1984-85:ÌıBarbara A. O’Connell ’86 and Pamela L. Pentin ’86
1985-86:ÌıLibby A. White ’86 and David J. Wiedis ’86
1986-87:ÌıLisa M. McCausland ’88 and Rosemary Pinto ’88
1987-88:ÌıTimothy J. Jaeger ’88 and Nina A. Kannatt ’88
1988-89:ÌıRichard E. Ruffee ’90 and Neil W. Townsend ’90
1989-90:ÌıLinda J. Ferrara ’91 and Rosemary D. Halligan ’91
1990-91: Robert J. Bohner Jr. ’91 and Leslie M. Gillin ’91
1991-92: Martin S. Lessner ’92 and Eric G. Zajac ’92
1992-93: Kelly Ann Connors ’94 and Michele C. Wiener ’94
1993-94:ÌıDavid A. Aikens ’94 and Michelle M. Aldrich ’94
1994-95: Joanne M. Judge ’96 and Barbara A. Williams ’96
1995-96: Michelle M. Lombardo ’88 BA, ’91 MS, ’97 CWSL and Jayne Y. Risk ’97
1996-97: Daniel J. Barry ’98 and Ronald D. Gale ’97
1997-98:ÌıDiane P. Carman ’89 CLAS, ’98 CWSL and Jennifer J. Clark ’98
1998-99: Tomika N. Stevens ’03 and Melissa H. Witsil ’00
1999-00:ÌıMaureen Q. Dwyer ’01 and Tracy D. Laskowski ’01
2000-01: Dennis L. Abramson ’01 and Andrew J. DiSanto ’01
2001-02 Kimberly A. Eger ’02 and Steven S. Poulathas ’99 VSB, ’02 CWSL
2002-03: Katherine J. Greger ’03 and William C. Root ’98 VSB, ’03 CWSL
2003-04: LeeAnn L. Gurysh ’05 and Christina M. Hanna ’05
2004-05: Edward J. Heffernan ’06 and Jonathan B. Ortiz ’06
2005-06: Christina M. Maron ’07 and Lindsay D. Varcoe ’07
2006-07: Bethany L. Deal ’05 CLAS, ’08 CWSL and Brian A. Pelloni ’08
2007-08: Michael J. Hoffman ’09 and Kelly M. Immordino ’09
2008-09: Brittany A. Koscher ’10 and Sean P. Philbin ’05 CLAS, ’10 CWSL
2009-10: Stephen E. Luttrell ’11 and Daniel A. Strumpf ’11
2010-11:ÌıJohn Mitchell Morris ’12 and Julia C. Young ’12
2011-12: Richard D. Eiszner ’05 CLAS, ’13 CWSL and Andrea E. May ’13
2012-13: Stephen J. McCloskey ’14 and Ashley M. Toczylowski ’14
2013-14:ÌıWilliam G. Burrows ’15Ìıand Mark R. Hewlett ’15
2014-15:ÌıBethany E. Brooks ’15Ìıand Nicole K. Pedi ’15
2015-16:ÌıJoshua Jacobs ’17 andÌıEugene Tsvilik ’17
2016-17: Sarah Burke ’18 andÌıKaitlyn Macaulay ’18
2017-18:ÌıSteven Lee ’19 andÌıDaniel Sulvetta ’19
2018-19:ÌıVanessa Huber '20 andÌıScott Zlotnick '19
2019-20:ÌıCC Carreras '21 andÌıKarina Norwood '21
2020-21:ÌıAnnalise Hodges '22 and Tasha Stoltzfus Nankerville '22
2021-22:ÌıAlexandra Romano ’23 and Isabelle Roman ’23
2022-23: Daniel Goldfield ’24 and Anna O'Brien ’24
Last yearÌıÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ Law’s 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 ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ Law which aims to enhance and showcase students’ courtroom advocacy skills.
Participants analyzed and argued cutting-edge legal issues for hypothetical cases, from either the plaintiffs’ side or the defendants’. 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!
ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥ University School of Law
Moot Court Board
299 N. Spring Mill Rd.
ÄÌÌÇÖ±²¥, PA 19085
Faculty Adviser:ÌıJessica Webb
Interested in getting involved with the Moot Court Board?Ìı