The Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board experienced success in three recent competitions. The team of Joshua Levey, 2L, and Adam Dionisopoulos, 3L, placed second in the Tulane Mardi Gras Invitational Appellate Sports Law Competition, and Clayton Schmitt, 2L, Keigan Vannoy, 3L, and Dimitrije Canic, 3L, also came in second place in the Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition. The Miami Law team of 3Ls Nicole McLemore, Dina Sarver, and Daniel Guernsey won the 8th annual Cristol Kahn Paskay Cup.
Tulane Mardi Gras Invitational Appellate Sports Law Competition
“When we received the news that we made it to the final round, all I could think about was all of the hard work we had put in to make it to this point,” said Levey, who participated in the Tulane Sports Competition. “The feeling was truly indescribable, but we had to bottle up the emotions and put our focus into trying to win one more time, and take home the trophy. We came up just short, but the feeling of getting to that point is something I don’t think I have ever experienced in my life.”
The team, coached by Andrew Beaulieu, J.D. ’13 and Alexandra Hayes, J.D. ’13, placed second out of 28 schools and ultimately lost to UC Hastings in the final round.
Duberstein Team: Dimitrije Canic (3L), Keigan Vannoy (2L), and Clayton Schmitt (2L)
The annual Mardi Gras National Moot Court Competition is the only yearly moot court competition in the country focusing on contemporary legal problems confronting the sports industry. A panel of “celebrity” judges judged the final round of the competition. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held the initial rounds of the competition, and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held the semi-finals and final rounds.
Miami Law has also placed high in the competition in the past including in 2013 and in 2014.
Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition
“When the organizers announced our team made the finals it was a surreal moment,” said Canic, who participated in the Duberstein competition. “All of the hard work and effort we put in during those days and nights was validated and rewarded. We need to credit Professor Redmond, director of Miami Law's Bankruptcy Clinic, and the team coaches for this success because they were constantly involved in our preparation and pushed us to improve ourselves each and every day. In the end, we were glad that we could celebrate Professor Redmond’s 20th anniversary as head coach of the Duberstein team with another trip to the finals.”
Miami Law’s team placed second out of 60 schools and lost to SMU in the finals.
Jointly sponsored by St. John’s University School of Law and the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Duberstein Moot Court Competition is named in memory of St. John’s alumnus, former ABI director, and former Chief Judge Conrad B. Duberstein. Duberstein is widely recognized as one of the nation’s preeminent moot court competitions.
Miami Law experienced success in the past placing 2nd in 2017 and placing 2nd out of 59 Teams and winning best oral advocate in 2015.
Cristol Kahn Paskay Cup
The CKP Cup serves as the regional warm-up for the 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 Duberstein bankruptcy competition.
“Hearing Dan, Nicole, and I announced as winners of the CKP Cup was surreal,” said Sarver. “It felt amazing to see our hard work and dedication pay off. It felt even better to earn the win in Miami before so many Eleventh Circuit judges and practitioners."
The competition is named in honor of three federal bankruptcy judges who serve or have served in the Eleventh Circuit: the Honorable A. Jay Cristol of the Southern District of Florida; the Honorable A. David Kahn of the Northern District of Georgia; and the Honorable Alexander L. Paskay of the Middle District of Florida. The Bankruptcy Bar Association of the Southern District of Florida sponsored and some of the nation’s most prestigious law firms and attorneys support the competition. The CKP Cup includes law schools from the entire Eleventh Circuit.
In addition to winning the CKP cup, Miami Law’s Daniel Guernsey was named runner-up best oralist in the competition. In 2018 Miami Law placed 1st in the CPK and also won in 2016.
“There were some amazing oralists from every school at the competition so I was thoroughly surprised when I was named second best oralist,” said Guernsey. “It was truly an unexpected honor."
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