Michigan State University College of Law Wins 30th Annual Wagner Moot Court Competition

Contact: Edith Sachs, New York Law School, 212.431.2187, esachs@nyls.edu

Video Archive of Final Round Is Posted at http://www.nyls.edu/wagner

NEW YORK, March 19, 2006—The Moot Court Association at New York Law School announced the winners of its 30th annual Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Competition. Michigan State University College of Law was the overall winner of the competition, arguing in the final round against Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.    

Today’s final round was judged by a distinguished bench led by the Honorable Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

“The decision was particularly difficult to make because it was such a well-written problem,” Judge Kozinski said. “Everybody did very well addressing some very hard questions.”

The Michigan State University team consisted of Kelli Stevens and Steven Meyerand, who was named Best Oral Advocate. The Southern Methodist University team consisted of Heather Morgan and Jeffrey Sprigg.

Students from 38 law schools from every region of the country competed in the written and oral phases of the competition, arguing a moot case arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the fictitious case, two former employees of Shop-n-Bag, Inc., George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld, file separate employment discrimination suits against the company; Costanza claiming that he was a victim of religious discrimination, and Seinfeld alleging that he was a victim of retaliation based on his support of Costanza’s rights and his opposition to Shop-n-Bag’s supposedly unlawful practices.

The oral rounds began on March 15 and culminated in the grand final round with the two best teams arguing before a bench that also included the Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; the Honorable Jane Roth, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; the Honorable Wilma B. Liebman, Board Member, National Labor Relations Board; and the Honorable Richard A. Matasar, Dean and President, New York Law School.

Founded at New York Law School, the Wagner Moot Court Competition is run entirely by students who author the fact pattern and the bench brief; score the written part of the competition; and organize the extensive series of oral rounds judged by distinguished practitioners and members of the bench. This year's Competition was organized by members of the New York Law School Moot Court Association led by:

• Kayla Rosenberg and Zhanna Ziering
  Competition Co-Chairs
• Randi Berman and Christina Zervoudakis
  Authors of the Fact Pattern and Bench Brief

Professor Carlin Meyer was the faculty advisor for the fact pattern. The Honorable Gerald Lebovits, Adjunct Professor of Law, is the faculty advisor to the Moot Court Association.

The Wagner Competition is named in honor of the Law School's distinguished alumnus, United States Senator Robert F. Wagner, who graduated from New York Law School in 1900. During his four consecutive terms in the Senate (1926–1949), Wagner authored sweeping legislation that dramatically changed the American social and economic landscape. His two greatest legislative achievements occurred in 1935 with the passage of the Social Security Act to provide old-age pensions to Americans, and the National Labor Relations Act to guarantee labor's right to organize and bargain collectively.

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