Tulane Law Moot Court Champions Earn Their Place on the Marble

Becca Hildner rhildner@tulane.edu
Man at podium addresses seated audience in a lecture or courtroom setting.
Judge in robe with four smiling women in business attire, indoors.
Four competitors shake hands, smiling, in a meeting room.
Smiling group of professionals at Tulane Law School.

The Tulane Law School Moot Court Program’s Honorary Rounds were held March 1, bringing together the school’s top student advocates for an afternoon of high-level competition and tradition. 

Each year, students compete in three disciplines — Mock Trial, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and traditional Appellate Litigation — for the program’s highest distinction. All the students who reach the Honorary Rounds earn a coveted spot “on the marble,” a decades-long tradition at Tulane Law in which champions have their names etched into the marble plaques that line the walls of the Wendell H. Gauthier Moot Court Room in John Giffen Weinmann Hall.

ADR 

This year’s ADR finalists were Alyssa Maria Estepp and Olivia Chhom-Reak Lehman, both third-year law students. Estepp took first place in the Honorary Round, with Lehman taking second.

Estepp described earning a place on the marble as the culmination of three goals she set for herself at the start of law school: becoming president of the Sports Law Society, serving as co-director of the Tulane International Fútbol Negotiation Competition and earning her name on the marble. With this victory, she has achieved all three. In addition to these accomplishments, she is the champion and MVP of the 2024 Tulane Entertainment Negotiation Competition and a finalist in the National Black Law Students Assocation's (NBLSA) Nelson Mandela International Negotiations Competition. She also coaches Tulane’s Sports Law and Black Law Students Association (BLSA) ADR Moot Court teams.

Lehman, who serves as the Moot Court fundraising chair, has played a key role behind the scenes in strengthening the program’s competitive efforts while sharpening her own advocacy skills. In addition to her work with Moot Court, she is a senior member of Tulane’s ADR Team and serves on the senior board for the 19th Annual Tulane International Baseball Arbitration Competition.

The ADR rounds were judged by attorneys Hon. W. Ross Foote, Ret., LeRoy Lambert (L’83), and Sanjay Das (L’24), who evaluated competitors on strategy, advocacy and professionalism. 

Mock Trial 

In Mock Trial, third-year law students Sophia Ella Kapoor and Alecia Sena Hobdy advanced to the final round, with Kapoor taking first place and Hobdy second.

Kapoor has spent the past year leading and mentoring fellow competitors as head coach of the Mock Trial Team. Her success in the Honorary Rounds reflects the same leadership and courtroom skill she has demonstrated throughout her time at Tulane Law. Along the way, she advanced to the quarterfinals of the Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Competition and was named Best Advocate at the 2025 BLSA Regional Mock Trial Competition.

Hobdy, past president of the Criminal Law Society, has also played a significant leadership role within Tulane’s advocacy programs. She serves as head coach of the BLSA Mock Trial Team, helping guide the team to a quarterfinal finish this year. A dedicated competitor in her own right, Hobdy is a two-time quarterfinalist in the BLSA Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Competition and a student attorney in the Juvenile Clinic.

The Mock Trial final round was presided over by Tulane Law alumnus Judge Barry Ashe (BA’78, L’84), of the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who brought his extensive courtroom experience to the bench for the competition. 

Appellate 

In the Appellate division, 3Ls Robert Benjamin Morrison III and Daevon James Adams earned their place on the marble. Morrison, head coach of the BLSA Thurgood Marshall Appellate Moot Court Team, took first place in the Honorary Round, with Adams in second. 

Morrison has played a key role in developing Tulane’s next generation of appellate advocates. His success in the Honorary Rounds builds on a remarkable record in competition. Alongside Adams, Morrison is the reigning 2025 NBLSA National Appellate Champion and 2025 NBLSA Southwest Regional Appellate Champion.

Adams, president of the Tulane Entertainment & Arts Law Society, has also distinguished himself as both a competitor and leader within Tulane’s advocacy programs. He is a founding member and co-director of the Tulane Entertainment Negotiation Competition and a recipient of the Dr. King Student Leadership Award and the Black Entertainment & Sports Lawyers Association Ultimate Achiever Award. Alongside Morrison, Adams is the reigning 2025 NBLSA National and Southwest Regional Appellate Champion.

The Appellate rounds were judged by Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier, the Hon. Beth Foote of the Western District of Louisiana, and the Hon. Karen Roby (L’87) of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, who posed rigorous questions and evaluated the students’ mastery of the record and legal argument. 

Notably, five of the six students whose names will be added to the marble competed in the national BLSA competition and are members of Tulane’s Black Law Students Association, a testament to the strength of advocacy training and community within the organization.  

Tulane Law’s Moot Court Program has a long and storied history dating back to 1929, when it was founded by a small group of students that included legendary U.S. Fifth Circuit Judge John Minor Wisdom (L’29). His name appears first in the series of marble tablets that hang in the Wendell H. Gauthier Moot Court Room in the John Giffen Weinmann Hall.  

One of the oldest student programs at Tulane Law, Moot Court offers students who successfully “argue-on” to a team the opportunity to hone their oral advocacy skills and compete in tournaments across the country.