Cornell Law School Moot Court Board

Congratulations to our excellent Jessup team on its fantastic showing at the Second U.S. Regional and the National Runoff.

Out of the 26 teams in the Second U.S. Regional, Cornell placed first, marking the first time that Cornell has won the competition in at least 13 years, but possibly ever. In the National runoff a week later, Cornell placed second.

Cornell’s Respondent team (Emma Sprotbery and Federico Wynter) beat Georgetown in the Second U.S. Regional semifinals. Cornell’s Applicant Team (Josh Howard and Sandile Magagula) beat its Ivy League rival, University of Pennsylvania, in the final round. Cornell’s collective victories mean that it is the second ranked team in the country, and in mid-March, Cornell will face off against 600 other law schools from around the world for the international cup.

Out of the 104 students who participated in the Regional competition, Emma Sprotbery was ranked best oralist, Sandile Magagula 7th, Federico Wynter 8th, and Josh Howard 9th. Cornell was the only team to have all of its oralists place in the top 10.

Cornell’s Respondent Memorial was also the 2nd best respondent memorial in the entire competition. Its collective memorials also placed 9th.

Congratulations to the winners of this year's internal moot court competitions!

Langfan: Tanmayi Sharma
Cuccia: Marisa O'Gara and John Mucciolo
Rossi: Domonique Collins

They faced excellent opponents in Emma Sprotbery, Phil Duggan, and Sal Diaz.

And congrats to the winners of our brief competitions, Evelyn Hudson, Andrew Kingsbury, and Grant Shillington.

Weeks of preparation and competition culminated in a particularly exciting final round for the annual partner moot court competition. Though each year the Cuccia Cup is a big Cornell Law School event, this year Justice Sotomayor's participation made the competition even more special and memorable for the whole school.

This year's judging panel included the following:
· The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court of the United States,

· The Honorable Richard C. Wesley, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,

· The Honorable Steven M. Colloton, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit,

· The Honorable Peter W. Hall, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and

· The Honorable Amy J. St. Eve, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

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Congratulations to our external teams who competed at New York City Bar Regional Competition this week! One team advanced to the Quarterfinals and our second team won Best Brief, and took Second Place in oral arguments, meaning they will continue on to compete in the National Competition in January! Good job Cornell Moot!

Congratulations to the winners of the regional 69th Annual Moot Court Competition! St. John's University School of Law won the regional rounds, Cornell Law School took second place honors and won Best Brief & Hofstra Law received runner-up brief! Thanks to American College of Trial Lawyers for co-sponsoring and to all who participated! http://bit.ly/2qPFxBO

This weekend was so much fun for the MCB, thanks to the four amazing finalists and a stellar final round panel.

The winners of the Cuccia Cup are Laurel Hopkins & Alex Weiner, arguing for the Petitioner. Charlie Sim & Hillary Rich argued tremendously well for the Respondent.

The winners of the Louis Kaiser Best Brief Competition are Bebe Albornoz & George El-Khoury.

Our final round panel consisted of the following esteemed federal judges:

-The Honorable Stephanie D. Thacker, United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
-The Honorable James L. Robart, United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
-The Honorable Ann M. Donnelly, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
-The Honorable Andrew T. Baxter, Magistrate Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
-The Honorable Therese Wiley Dancks, Magistrate Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of New York

We’re having a blast judging the Round of 16 of the 2017 Cuccia Cup Moot Court Competition! Thanks to all our amazing competitor teams for being incredibly impressive advocates.

This year, the questions presented by our problem are:

(1) Whether Respondent-Plaintiffs’ challenge to the temporary suspension of entry of aliens abroad under Section 2(c) of Executive Order No. 1378 (“Travel Ban”) is justiciable

(2) Whether Section 2(c)’s temporary suspension of entry violates the Establishment Clause

For everyone who followed the arguments during the 2016 Cuccia Cup Moot Court Competition, on the issue of tippee liability under Dirks v. SEC, the Supreme Court just decided Salman v. United States in an 8-0 decision affirming the tippee's conviction holding that under Dirks, a jury could infer that a tipper materially benefited from making a gift of confidential information to a trading relative. See the link for the opinion!

http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/salman-v-united-states/

Salman v. United States The Supreme Court of the United States blog

For those of you dying to know whether the Thirteenth Circuit in last Fall's Cuccia competition was correct in defining an "official act" for purposes of federal bribery statutes, the Supreme Court in an 8-0 decision decided McDonnell v. United States in favor of the defendant. Read more about the issue on Cornell's LII Supreme Court Bulletin!

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/15-474

McDonnell v United States (15-474) Petitioner Robert McDonnell was elected the governor of Virginia in 2009. United States v. McDonnell, 792 F.3d 478, 486 (4th Cir. 2015).

The 2016-17 Cornell Law School Moot Court Board

http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/spotlights/Student-Teams-Argue-Corruption-in-the-2015-Cuccia-Cup-Moot-Court-Competition.cfm

Student Teams Argue Corruption in the 2015 Cuccia Cup Moot Court Competition