2Ls Win 2009 Thurgood A. Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition
March 20, 2009 — Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University students Peter Kidd and Deborah Richman took first place in the 2009 Thurgood A. Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition, which concluded on March 20 in Washington, D.C.
Organized by the Young Lawyers Division of the Federal Bar Association, the competition featured teams from 28 law schools across the country. The teams argued a First Amendment case that stemmed from a school's intervention after students included religious content in brochures they created for a marketing assignment.
Argued at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the final round was judged by two actual members of the court.
The contest was the first moot court competition entered by Kidd and Richman, who are both second-year students.
They were coached by Professor Richard Frankel, who said the competition was intense.
"Deborah and Peter were very composed," Frankel said, "The judges said very complimentary things about both of them."
Professor Kevin Oates, faculty advisor to the Earle Mack School of Law's Moot Court Board, said he did not expect students inexperienced in competition to do so well.
"I was hoping that they would get their feet wet so, they would be better advocates as 3Ls," Oates said. "But they won. They demonstrated that they're already tremendous advocates."
Kidd and Richman both credited professors and student mooters who prepared them for the competition.
"Faculty members and members of the Moot Court Board did a great job acting as judges during the two weeks we had to prepare, and gave us valuable feedback regarding the substance and form of our arguments," Kidd said. "Professor Frankel kept us grounded at the competition and was an important factor in our success."
The sense of connection to the Earle Mack School of Law community was foremost in the competitors' minds as the judges deliberated.
"While we were waiting for them to announce the winners after the final round, we agreed that we both wanted to win so everybody could hear Drexel's name announced," Richman said. "I am so proud to have had the honor of bringing home Drexel's first trophy."
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