Talk about “March Madness”! “When it comes to mock trial and moot court, Case Western Reserve University School of Law is the equivalent of an elite NCAA basketball program,” said Co-Dean Michael Scharf.
Based on the overall success of its nine mock trial and moot court teams, Case Western Reserve ranked #5 in the 2023 Gavel mock trial rankings and ranked #10 in the NICA moot court rankings. And when the new rankings come out, 2024 is likely to top that. Here’s what the Law School teams accomplished this past year:
- In Oct. 2023, the CWRU Mock Trial team was selected for the second year in a row to compete in the elite Tournament of Champions, held in Houston, TX.
- In Nov. 2023, the CWRU Mock Trial team competed in the White Collar Crime Invitational Tournament hosted by Georgetown University Law Center, where they made it to the Final Four.
- In Feb. 2024, our Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court team competed in the Regional Round of the Asian International Arbitration Center Vis Competition and earned a place in the elimination rounds in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The team also competed at the 11th Annual Richard DeWitt Memorial Vis Competition in Miami, FL, where a member of our team won the award for Best Advocate at the competition. And the team competed in the Loyola University Competition in Chicago, where they placed third. The team competed in Vienna at the International Vis Competition in March.
- In Feb. 2024, our Moot Court team took 2nd place in the Academy of Trial Lawyers Mock Trial Competition in Pennsylvania, and a CWRU Law student received the “top litigator award.”
- In March 2024, our Moot Court team took 2nd place in the ABA’s National Appellate Advocacy Moot Court Competition in San Francisco, and a CWRU Law student received the award for Second Best Oralist out of 80 competitors.
- In March 2024 our Black Law Students Association Mock Trial Team won the National Championship in the Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Competition in Houston, TX. This historic win occurred after the team placed 2nd in February’s Regional Competition.
- In March 2024, our Jessup International Law Moot Court team won the Western National Competition in Portland, OR, earning a berth in the World Championship Rounds for the fifth year in a row. Our team also won the award for the 2nd best brief, and team members garnered the 2nd best speaker award, 7th best speaker award, and 11th best speaker award out of 144 participants. At the World Championship in April, CWRU placed 21st out of 150 teams and won the 6th and 25th best speaker awards out of 600 competitors.
Reflecting this extraordinary run of mock trial and moot court success, PreLaw magazine recently bestowed Case Western Reserve the coveted “A” grade in Trial Advocacy and Litigation and ranked it #10 in the nation in Practical Training.
“In our long history of mock trial and moot court team achievement, this may have been the best year of all,” said Co-Dean Scharf, who coaches the school’s Jessup International Law Moot Court team. “Dozens of our students brought home trophies and plaques this year, attesting to their extraordinary advocacy skills—skills that will render them sought-after counsel in the years to come.”
Congratulations to all the 2023-2024 CWRU Law School Mock Trial and Moot Court teams!