Students square off in revamped Honorary Rounds

The Tulane Law Moot Court Program’s Honorary Rounds were held April 13 in a revamped format that –for the first time  – allowed three of the disciplines to hold their biggest, and final competitions in one day.

The three disciplines, Mock Trial, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and the traditional Appellate litigation, all saw two competitors square off for the top title and a spot “on the marble” – a long-standing tradition for decades at Tulane Law.

Third-year law student Corinne Morris took the top spot in the Appellate round against her colleague and classmate Lakshmi  “Lex” Kumar (L’24), with the Honorable Dana Douglas of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Honorable Wendy Vitter (L’86) of the Eastern District of Louisiana, and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs Stacy Seicshnaydre (L’92) as the presiding judges.

Morris and Kumar debated  United States v. Dana Dinofrio, a New York case involving insider trading.

In Mock Trial, 3L Drew Evans won his argument against Caylin Grosse, also a 3L. Judges in that round were the Honorable Darrel Papillion from the Eastern District of Louisiana, Tulane Law Professor Jancy Hoeffel and Associate Dean Tonya Jupiter (L’94). Evans and Grosse squared off on State of Lone Star v. Justice Jackson, a case involving burglary and theft, and a question of whether the defendant was present at the scene of the crime.

The ADR round saw two of the Tulane Sports Law program’s best square of off; 3Ls Jasmine Williams and Alexander de la Osa negotiated in a case involving construction disputes. Williams was the winner of the round, which was judged by three highly respected arbitrators and mediators,  Ashley Belleau (NC’80, L’84), Tiffany Davis (L’05), and Tony Dileo (A&S’68, L’70). 

Williams and de la Osa negotiated Progressive Hotels, inc. v. Willco Construction Co., a construction contract dispute involving 

liens, delayed schedules and additions and extensions to the original plans.

Tulane Law’s Moot Court Program has a long and storied history since its inception in 1929 by a small group of students, including the legendary U.S. Fifth Circuit Judge John Minor Wisdom (L’29), whose name is on the very first in a series of marble tablets that hang in the Wendell H. Gauthier Moot Court Room 110 at Weinmann Hall.

One of the oldest of Tulane’s programs, Moot Court provides students who successfully “argue-on” to a team the opportunity to demonstrate their oral advocacy skills by participating in competitions throughout the country. Students of the Moot Court Program compete in three disciplines: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate, and Mock Trial. While hosting an Appellate Honorary Round is a Tulane tradition, this year the event expanded to include  ADR and Mock Trial teams.

See more photos from the Moot Court Honorary Rounds.