The 35th iteration of the William B. Spong, Jr., Invitational Moot Court Tournament was held on February 17-18, 2006. Twenty-eight teams from 20 schools competed, with winner’s laurels going to a team from South Texas and runner-up honors awarded to a team from Temple. Temple’s Justin O’Shana won Best Oralist with Franklin Pierce’s Amy Macklin placing second.

Spong Justice John W. Pollom ’06 notes that the tournament has gained a national reputation for its judging [click here for the list of this year’s judges, requires Adobe Reader]. He says that some participants – as well as some judges – comment that “they make it a point to come because we always have a judging panel that is beyond compare.” Half of this year’s judges, for example, were drawn from judicial ranks and included, for example, Virginia Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy and Connecticut Chief Justice William J. Sullivan ’65.

Preparation for the next tournament begins almost immediately at the conclusion of each year’s competition, says Pollom. He and the other members of this year’s “Spong Team” – Liz McElroy ’07, Linda Oramasionwu ’07, Eric Pohlner ’06, and Matt Roessing ’07– labored for months on logistical planning and relied on the entire moot court team of nearly 60 other students to be on hand during the weekend to make sure everything ran smoothly.

The team awarded the Spong Memorial Award, which recognizes steadfast support of the Moot Court program, to Ian R. Conner ’03. Conner, a former member of the Moot Court Board, traveled from Washington, DC, for the weekend to help with scoring. Conner was lauded for his on-going support of the program and for the considerable guidance and advice he provided to this year’s planners.

Pollom noted that the annual tournament affords students “a chance to witness appellate advocacy of the highest order” and to see judges of “incredible acumen firing difficult and probing questions.”

Editor’s Note: April’s E-News will feature a story on the winning seasons of our moot court and trial teams.