Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) Moot Team scores a historic win at the 2014 Georgia Intrastate Moot Court Competition. As their first victory at the competition, the win represents a milestone for the law school.
Every year all five law schools in the state of Georgia compete against each other at the Georgia Intrastate Moot Court Competition, where competitors are scored on their brief writing and oral advocacy skills. Until this year, the University of Georgia has enjoyed a comfortable eight-year winning streak at the competition.
This would all change in 2014 as the winning team, consisting of students Kimberly Stahl (Cartersville, GA), Daniel Ybanez (Port Orange, FL), Mathis Wilkens and Derek Gross, scored an upset. The AJMLS moot team defeated teams from the University of Georgia, Mercer University, Georgia State University and Emory University during the two-day event held at Emory University from March 21, 2014 to March 22, 2014.
Advancing to the final round of the competition were the moot teams from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and The University of Georgia. Kimberly Stahl and Mathis Wilkens represented the AJMLS Moot Team in the finals. Although this isn’t the first year that the AJMLS Moot Team has placed in a moot court competition, this year has marked several significant changes for Moot Court at John Marshall.
Professor Malempati who took over as the Director of Advocacy Programs in August of 2013 had this to say about the improvements that led to the school’s win, “Oral advocacy and legal writing are a focus of our curriculum at John Marshall. The faculty are committed to the practical training of our students.”
She goes on to say, “We have also added two incredibly dedicated alumni coaches: Michael Bauer and Thomas Lyman. We have always known that our students are incredibly talented. I am just so pleased to see that they are being recognized for all of their hard work.
Last, but certainly not least, we have had tremendous support this year from the faculty. Professors Baker, Boone, D’Agostino, De Haven, Doneff, Mears, and Van Detta tirelessly benched our competitors so that they were thoroughly prepared to walk away with the winning prize.”
Likewise, LoriBeth Westbrook, the current Chair of Moot Court also had this to add regarding the progression of the school’s moot court team, “Although we did not expect the changes we have made to the program to have had such a dramatic impact so soon, our success at Georgia Intrastate and Stetson demonstrates that those changes are having a positive impact. And I am confident that there will be even more success to share in the future.”