Front row left to right: His Excellency Associate Professor James Fry, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law; Malia Taylor-Wolfe ‘25, Bailiff; Her Excellency Cari Shiffman, Chief of Staff for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Middle row: Madame President, Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna, Hawaiʻi Supreme Court; James Crisafulli, George Washington University Law School; NARR Regional Coordinator & Professor/ELP Co-Director David Forman. Bottom row: Vikram Ramaswamy and Anna Guzman, University of Chicago Law School; Aashini Choksi, George Washington University Law School; Korynn Grenert ʻ26, Technical Assistant.
William S. Richardson School of Law hosted the (virtual) North American Regional Rounds of the 28th Annual Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition from February 15-17, 2024. Teams from Nova Scotia, Vermont, New York, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas, and Hawai‘i argued before more than forty judges across nine time zones representing South Asia (India and Pakistan), South East Asia (Malaysia and the Philippines), East Asia (Hong Kong), Oceania (New Zealand), multiple locations within the United States (Hawaiʻi, including both Honolulu and Maui, along with California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C.), and even Central Europe (the Netherlands)!
The Best Memorial Award went to the Dalhousie Schulich School of Law, Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Canadian team included Samuel Eisner and Kate Love, coached by Visiting Faculty member Kevin Berk. The Runner-Up Best Memorial award went to the University of Kansas Law School; team members Anthony Leeks and John Langmaid were coached by Professor John Head, Professor Pamela Keller, and Daniel Buller. Additional awards from the Preliminary Rounds went to:
Best Oralist: Kate Love, Dalhousie Schulich School of Law
Runner-up Best Oralist: James Crisafulli, George Washington University Law School
3rd Best Oralist: Mary Ramsey, Vermont Law School
* 4th Best Oralist: Vikram Ramaswamy, University of Chicago Law School
* 5th Best Oralist: Kenadi Mitchell, Howard University School of Law
Syracuse University College of Law earned a spot in the semifinals by virtue of a tie-breaker (percentage of oral argument ballots won) over the University of Kansas Law School and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, before falling to the undefeated top seed from George Washington University Law School: Aashina Choksi and James Crisafuli, coached by Professor Randall Abate.
Dalhousie Schulich edged out the University of Chicago for the second seed based on the same tie-breaker; however, the latter team overcame the disadvantage of a lower memorial score to prevail in their semifinal round and advance to the regional finals.
The two finalists from the District of Columbia and Illinois did not make it easy for the judges, who ultimately declared the winner to be the University of Chicago Law School: Anna Guzman and Vikram Ramaswamy. Anna Guzman also earned the award for Best Oralist in the Final Round.
Both finalists received invitations to participate in the International Finals taking place in-person at Stetson Law in Gulfport, Florida from April 10-13, 2024. In addition, Stetson Law extended a customary invitation to the regional host allowing the Richardson team coached by Associate Professor and ELP Co-Director Richard Wallsgrove: Nicole Harrison ‘25, Alyssa Neri ‘25, and Xiao Yi Zhao ‘25. Reflecting on her participation in the virtual competition, Nicole shared the following: “We learned a lot from the regional experience. It made all of the theoretical a lot more real to be applying the law in arguments against real opponents (compared to each other since we argue against our team in practice). The judges gave us great feedback that we are implementing in our preparation for the international finals in April.”
Richardson’s Environmental Law Program extends a heartfelt “Mahalo!” for time generously donated by the many judges and lawyers who evaluated the written memorials and oral arguments, as well as all the Richardson students who volunteered as bailiffs and technical assistants to make this event run smoothly!
MTW/DMF 4/8/24