Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia School of Law recently finished as aquarterfinalist at the Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition.
The trio of Georgia Law second-year students Leah C. Beverly, Alan G. Jones and Krista M. Marino finished ahead of more than 55 teams, including Rutgers at Camden and Chicago-Kent, to advance to the quarterfinal round. They were coached by third-year law student Audrey A. Lewis and Associate Professor Peter A. Appel.
This is the school’s first year competing in this preeminent environmental law competition, which draws more than 200 competitors nationwide and tests skills in appellate brief writing and oral advocacy on issues drawn from real cases and provides experience in environmental litigation.
The competition is distinctive from other moot court tournaments in that three adverse teams argue the issues, reflecting the fact that environmental litigation frequently involves multiple parties—the government, a public interest group and a member of the regulated industry. Typically, tournaments only have two schools facing each other at a time.
“I am extremely proud of our students for how well they competed,” Appel said. “Without any prior experience in this tournament, they outperformed teams from schools that had been here before as well as schools with large environmental law programs.”
This marks Georgia Law’s second national quarterfinalist finish this advocacy season, with the first coming at the National Moot Court Competition in February.