By Melinda Rogers

A team of students from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law earned impressive marks at the National Moot Court Competition held earlier this month in New York.

Students Sara Parker, Jon Williams and Jeremy Brodis advanced as far as any Utah team has advanced in more than a decade — making it to the final round of eight teams, a level of success Utah as not seen since 2003, according to coaches (and adjunct professors) Troy Booher and Christopher Stout.

The National Moot Court Competition is the oldest, largest and considered by many attorneys and law schools to be the most  prestigious moot court competition in the U.S. It is co-sponsored by the New York City Bar Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers. This year’s competition included 158 teams from 113 law schools across the country. Teams competed in 15 regional competitions in November 2015, with the top two in each region advancing to the national competition held at the House of the New York City Bar Association over Presidents Day weekend.

At the competition, students made arguments addressing the contours of the “personal benefit” requirement for insider trading liability as well as the standard for admissibility of grand jury testimony in subsequent criminal proceedings. Utah’s team authored the eighth best brief in the country, scoring well in a competitive field.

“Advancing to the final round of eight teams is no small accomplishment since there are many teams at the national finals that have been together for more than a year, whereas our teams came together in September to prepare for the competition,” Booher said.

“The entire university community should be proud of how our team did in New York,” added Stout.

Coaches thanked S.J. Quinney of College staff members Karen Fuller and Suzanne Faddis, who coordinate the law school’s student competition programs as well as other faculty, staff, alumni and community members who help students prepare for competitions throughout the year.

“The program does not work without substantial help and donated time from many people,” Booher noted.

To learn more about the law school’s other moot court competitions, click here.

Melinda Rogers is a communications specialist at University Marketing and Communications. If you have an interesting story idea, email her at melinda.rogers@utah.edu.