This semester the law school competed for the first time in the National Health Law Moot Court Competition. The premier competition, in its thirty-second season, is hosted by Southern Illinois University School of Law with support from the American College of Legal Medicine and the American Health Law Association. CWRU Law joined the ranks of law schools throughout the country to dive into and argue contemporary issues of health law and policy.
Team members Vincent Romero and Kristen Mehalko tackled complex issues involving federal preemption of state law and the False Claims Act. Just before the start of their 2L year, they drafted an appellate brief on behalf of a fictional medical device manufacturer. They then traveled to Southern Illinois University for a March Madness style oral-argument tournament, where they held their own in arguments against many seasoned 3L competitors. Professor Melissa Ghrist coached the team, and second-year Caren Teague served as the team’s coordinator.
Romero and Mehalko are active in the law school’s Law-Medicine Center, the oldest health-law program in the country. They appreciated the opportunity to apply the concepts they’ve been learning in their health-law courses to the moot-court arena. They hope to build on this year’s success by returning to the Health Law Competition next fall with another year under their belt.