Members of the 14th-ranked Ole Miss Law Moot Court program.
OXFORD, Miss. – The final moot court rankings are in, and the University of Mississippi School of Law placed 14th in the nation for 2014. With three national championship teams and two other squads finishing as national semifinalists and quarterfinalists, the law school expected a strong finish.With a top 15 ranking among approximately 175 law schools with moot court programs, the School of Law earned an invitation to the Moot Court National Championship, set for January 2015 in Houston.”Being ranked among the top programs in the country demonstrates that our students can compete with anyone,” said Matthew Hall, senior associate dean and faculty adviser to the moot court board. “Earning this ranking with five separate teams demonstrates the extraordinary depth of talent at Ole Miss.”The ranking, compiled by University of Houston Law Center, is based on scores from moot court competitions around the country. In moot court, law students submit written briefs and then perform mock supreme court arguments to panels of expert judges.This year’s nationally-ranked Ole Miss teams are:- National Champions at the Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition
– National Champions at the Gabrielli National Family Law Moot Court Competition
– National Champions at the National Professional Responsibility Moot Court Competition
– National Semifinalists at the Prince Evidence Moot Court Competition
– National Quarterfinalists at the Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition
“This has been an amazing year for the moot court board and our ranking as 14th best program in the country would not have possible without the help of so many truly dedicated people,” said Irving Jones, chair of the school’s moot court board.
For each competition, two or three students spend weeks writing a brief. Then, with the help of student, professor and practitioner coaches, the team practices for oral arguments.
“Winning three national championships and placing well in several others has been incredibly rewarding, and I could not be prouder of the way we represented Ole Miss on a national level,” Jones said.
In addition to the teams that earned points in the ranking system, the moot court board fielded seven other teams and claimed a semifinalist spot at the National Cultural Heritage Law Moot Court Competition and a quarterfinalist spot at the Rendigs Products Liability Moot Court Competition.
The moot court board is not the only program at the Ole Miss law school enjoying success. The school’s negotiation board also won a national championship at the 2014 National Transactional LawMeets, the country’s largest contract negotiation and drafting competition. Students on the law school’s three journals have also enjoyed success, producing some 40 student articles in journals at the school and 20 student articles in law reviews around the country in the last two years.
“There is a lot of talent here at the law school, and given the support for our advocacy programs, I am certain our success will continue,” Jones said.