USD Law Students Brittany Zummer and Jillian Ewan Win 2nd Place at Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition National Finals

USD Law Students Brittany Zummer and Jillian Ewan Win 2nd Place at Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition National Finals

Members of the USD Moot Court Team

Washington (March 15, 2014) – University of San Diego (USD) School of Law students Brittany Zummer, ’14 (JD), and Jillian Ewan, ’15 (JD), members of the USD School of Law Appellate Moot Court Board, earned second place overall and second place best brief in the national finals at the 23rd Annual Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition.

The national rounds of the competition took place on March 15, 2014, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. A total of 86 teams competed in the regional rounds of the competition, but only the top two teams from each of five regions were selected to compete in the prestigious national rounds. As second place finishers in the West Region, held on February 8 in San Francisco, Zummer and Ewan qualified as one of those teams.

Alumnus Patrick Klingborg, ’13 (JD), coached the team to its success.

“I was most impressed with the students’ determination and focus,” said Klingborg. “As a result of making it to the finals, Brittany and Jillian practiced their oral arguments for nine weeks, a feat of academic endurance which more than doubles the time spent by most teams preparing for a single moot court competition.”

Tory Smith, ’14 (JD), and Kelsey Hathaway, ’15 (JD), USD’s other team in the competition, earned third place in the February regional, but under the rules of the competition, did not advance to the finals. Nevertheless, Smith and Hathaway continued contributing at oral argument practices after the regional rounds in order to help Zummer and Ewan, which, according to Klingborg, was a testament to all four students’ commitment to USD’s success.

The Lefkowitz competition focuses on trademark and unfair competition law. The judges at the national rounds were predominantly trademark trial and appeal board judges. At a reception after the competition, many of the judges sought out Zummer and Ewan to praise their command of the record and ability to fluidly respond to questions during their arguments.

About the Appellate Moot Court Board

The University of San Diego School of Law Appellate Moot Court Board is a student-run organization dedicated to fostering the development of appellate advocacy skills among law students. The Board’s mission is an amalgam of academic rigor and professional training. Each year, the USD’s best appellate advocates travel to competitions throughout the country to showcase their advocacy skills.

About the University of San Diego School of Law

Celebrating 60 years of alumni success, the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law is recognized for the excellence of its faculty, depth of its curriculum, and strength of its clinical programs. Each year, USD educates approximately 900 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest and taxation.

USD School of Law is one of the 81 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 23rd worldwide in all-time faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, nonprofit, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.