Moot Court Team Crowned Champions at the 4th Annual CKP Cup

Miami Law’s moot court team of Leah Aaronson, Karla Albite and Jimmy Czodli won first place at the regional 11th Circuit Bankruptcy moot court competition for the 2015 Cristol, Kahn, Paskay Cup. Aaronson, 3L, was also awarded second best speaker in the competition.
Picture of Moot Court Team

(left to right) Karla Albite, 3L; Jimmy Czodli, 2L; Leah Aaronson, 3L; Professor Patricia Redmond; Judge John K Olson; Judge C. Ray Mullins; Eric Brundstad; Judge Laurel M. Isicoff; Maria Chavez-Ruark

The CKP Cup serves as the regional warm-up for Duberstein National Bankruptcy Competition. Law schools from the Eleventh Circuit (Florida, Georgia, and Alabama) compete in the CKP before heading to New York City in early March for the national bankruptcy competition.

“It felt great to finally take the CKP trophy home this year,” said Aaronson. “CKP is a really excellent competition with tons of talent, so it was definitely a hard fight from the beginning. I'm really proud of my team and all that we accomplished so far. Having the opportunity to argue in front of such a distinguished panel of bankruptcy judges and some of the nation's best appellate advocates was surely a highlight of my law school career.”

The Duberstein National Bankruptcy Competition will be held this year on March 7-9 at St. John’s University School of Law.

“It was an honor to represent the University of Miami and our board at the CKP Cup, and I am really excited that we were able to win first place for the first time in the competition's history,” said Czodli, 2L, president-elect of the Charles C. Papy Moot Court Board. “The Eleventh Circuit teams that compete in the CKP Cup have historically gone on to be top competitors at Duberstein in New York City, and after seeing the talented and tough competition that we faced this past weekend, it is easy to see why. We are continuing to work hard to ensure that we will be able to repeat our success.”

In addition to the CKP Cup winning team, Miami Law will also send a second team to Duberstein, comprised of 3Ls Caitlin Griffin, Jamie Campellone (executive vice president of moot court), and Adrienne Scheffey (brief writer). Griffin and Campellone competed last year. Both teams have been coached by Adjunct Professor Patricia Redmond, JD ’79, director of the Bankruptcy Clinic.

“We have a team of amazing coaches and practice with bankruptcy attorneys and judges multiple days a week,” said 3L Albite, who is also Editor-in-Chief of the University of Miami Law Review. “They have helped to prepare us. It was an honor to win, especially since this is the first year a Miami Law team has won.”

The CKP Cup is named in honor of three federal bankruptcy judges who serve or have served in the 11th Circuit: A. Jay Cristol of the Southern District of Florida; A. David Kahn of the Northern District of Georgia; and Alexander L. Paskay of the Middle District of Florida.




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