La Verne Law Moot Court Team Defeats Harvard during Williams Institute Event
La Verne Law’s Kathleen Doherty and Erik Hammett advanced to the semifinals of the 11th Annual Williams Institute National Moot Court Competition in February, defeating Harvard in the quarterfinals as well as earning preliminary wins over UNLV and NYU in a field that featured 47 teams from across the country.
Scoring for the preliminary rounds were based on the written brief and both rounds of oral arguments. The top eight teams advanced to the quarterfinals with the top four earning semifinal berths. Scoring in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds were solely based on oral arguments.
While Doherty and Hammett lost a close semifinal to Northwestern, the overall performance earned praise for their performance from Adjunct Professor Dean McVay. An attorney with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, McVay has been coaching La Verne Law Moot Court Teams since 1999.
The Williams Institute is host to the only national competition dedicated exclusively to the areas of sexual orientation and gender identity law. The competition provides an opportunity for competitors to write an appellate brief on a current legal topic and to argue the case before a panel of judges. The competition is designed to promote and recognize the finest oral and written advocacy on a significant problem in sexual orientation and gender identity law.
