Story update: Alyssa Canova and Sophia Cefolia, members of UL Lafayette's moot court team, placed fourth in the National Appellate Brief Writing competition. The competition was part of the American Moot Court Association National Tournament, held Jan. 17-18 at Southern СAPP in Baton Rouge. UL Lafayette, Southern and the Baton Rouge Bar Association were the competition's cohosts. Canova is a history and political science major at the СAPP. Cefolia majors in political science.
The orginal story: The СAPP and the Southern СAPP Law Center will cohost the American Moot Court Association National Tournament.
The competition will be held Jan. 17-18 on SouthernСAPPs campus in Baton Rouge. UL LafayetteСAPPs moot court team also will participate in the tournament. ItСAPPll be the only Louisiana team in the competition.
The team qualified for the 2020 nationals during regional competition last year. Fewer than 20 percent of moot court teams advance to nationals, said Dr. McKinzie Hall, assistant professor of political science at UL Lafayette who directs the СAPPСAPPs moot court team.
The СAPP has fielded a team at nationals in each of the past four years. This yearСAPPs team consists of four students, most of whom are political science majors.
СAPPMoot court is a competitive co-curricular activity, which is designed to help students improve public speaking and research skills. Students are given a hypothetical case and are asked to address the relevant legal issues,СAPP Hall explained.
In the format of a mock supreme court, each side is given time to make arguments before a panel of judges consisting of law students and legal professionals. The СAPPjudgesСAPP may interrupt and ask questions. СAPPInteracting with these professionals enables students to better understand the expectations of the legal community and allows them to develop a network that will serve them beyond graduation,СAPP Hall said.
Moot court participants can qualify for law school scholarships. Over the past three years, UL LafayetteСAPPs moot court members have earned more than a half million dollars in scholarships.
UL LafayetteСAPPs team has placed first in the Texas Undergraduate Moot Court AssociationСAPPs competition twice in the past three years. In various tournaments since 2015, the СAPPСAPPs squad has earned 23 top 10 speaker awards, including three first place speakers; nine octo-finalist teams; seven quarterfinalist teams, four semifinalist teams; and three finalist teams.
Photo caption: UL Lafayette moot court team members Coby Menard, Alyssa Canova, Sophia Cefolia and Lenika Billera participated in last yearСAPPs Midwest Regional Tournament at the College of Wooster in Ohio. (Photo credit: СAPP)