Office of Clinical and Experiential Learning (OCEL)

New York Law School Moot Court Association

The New York Law School Moot Court Association is one of the largest and most successful student-run moot court organizations in the nation.  Through national competition and our own rigorous mentoring program, members develop well honed appellate oral advocacy and brief writing skills.  Members compete in a variety of competitions, ranging topically from criminal procedure, tax, family law, constitutional law and entertainment law.  The Association has participated in competitions across the country, including Washington D.C., Chicago, San Diego, Malibu, Buffalo and New York City.  Since 1992, the Association has won seventy-six first place honors.

Eligible students gain admission to the Association by competing in the Charles W. Froessel Intramural Moot Court Competition.  The Froessel competition is one of the most demanding and rigorous intramural competitions.  In the Froessel competition, teams of two students compete against each other.  After registration, teams are given a fact pattern based on constitutional law which contains citations to the leading cases on the issues presented.  The teams, however, are not limited to a closed universe and are both encouraged and expected to do additional research.

Each team is given approximately one month to research the issues and submit an appellate brief.  Once briefs are served, two preliminary rounds of oral arguments are scheduled.  Students progress to advanced rounds based on a combination of their brief and oral scores.  At the competitions conclusion, awards are presented for the Best Preliminary Round Advocate, Best Brief (Petitioner and Respondent), and Best Team.  Each of the four student advocates who advance to the Final Round will also receive an award for their outstanding achievement, while one advocate is selected as the Best final Round Advocate.  An additional six students receive the Morris Orland Moot Court Award for Excellence in Written and Oral Advocacy.

Following the Final Round, the Associations Executive Board will invite Froessel competitors to become Moot Court Association candidates.  In the fall, candidates for membership must complete a comprehensive written and oral advocacy skills training program to prepare them for the rigors of national competition.  Upon completion of this program, candidates are granted full membership status and compete nationally in the spring.

In addition to the Froessel competition, every spring the Association hosts the Annual Robert F. Wagner National Labor & Employment Moot Court Competition.  The Wagner Competition is one of the nations largest student-run moot court competitions and the only competition dedicated exclusively to labor and employment law.  The Froessel and Wagner competitions attract attorneys from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania to act as judges.  Past Final Round judges have included United States Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, former United States Solicitor General Kenneth W. Starr, and David Bois of Boies, Shiller & Flexner.  Final Round judges from our own faculty have included former Dean Richard Matasar, Professor and former ACLU President Nadine Strossen, and The Honorable Gerald Lebovits.

The Moot Court Association receives enormous support from the New York Law School Faculty and Administration, including our faculty advisors Professor Susan Abraham, Professor Nadine Strossen and Adjunct Professor Peggy Leibowitz.  Without their help, and the help and support of the entire New York Law School community, our success would not be possible.  We honor the Association's fine tradition of bringing national recognition to New York Law School.

OCEL

2013-2014 Executive Board

Chair
Mark O'Neal

Vice Chair
Kathryn Baxter

Executive Editors
Garrett Baldwin
Michael Ricchiuto

Froessel Chairs
Catherine Brunetto
Ariel Cabral

Froessel Authors
Elona Kukaj 
Alex Noble

Wagner Chairs
Nathalie Gonzalez
Katerina Kurteva

Wagner Authors
Ali Jaffery
Julie Nociolo 

Public Relations and Media Chair
Raymond Queliz

Faculty and Staff

Faculty Advisor
Prof. Susan Abraham

Administrator
Steven Cunningham