Florida Moot Court Team members Amanda Finley (3L), Bob O’Linn (2L) and Nick Andrews (2L) traveled to the 20th Annual Honorable Conrad B. Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition hosted by St. John’s University in New York March 10-12.

Duberstein is the largest one-site Moot Court competition in the nation, with well over 50 teams from across the country competing. Finley, O’Linn, and Andrews survived the gauntlet with an impressive display of advocacy and cruised into the semifinal round, as one of the top four teams, where they eventually fell short against the eventual champions from UT-Austin, finishing in a tie for third overall. In addition to their remarkable run, the trio took home the coveted Best Brief Award for the competition, which is the first for the Florida Moot Court team since Fall 2010.

This honor was not without merit, as Finley, O’Linn, and Andrews worked tirelessly on the brief, fine-tuning it to near perfection. For Finley, this will be a tremendous warm-up as she will be competing with her fellow classmates next month at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition in Vienna, Austria. Meanwhile, O’Linn and Andrews are well-prepared to carry the mantle for the Florida Moot Court Team into 2012-2013.

While the team has demonstrated a promising growth in written advocacy, the team continued its dominance at oral advocacy at the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition last month at the Atlanta Regional. There, the Florida Moot Court Team sent two teams of competitors: Leigh Anne Siddle (3L), Dan Lazaro (3L), and Jordan Peterson (3L) consisted of one team, while Andrew Labbe (3L), Dylan Shea (2L), and Kelsey Veitengruber (2L) were the second team. Each survived to the Quarterfinal round of the Regional. From there, the team of Labbe, Shea, and Veitengruber advanced to the Regional Final.

As expected, they did not leave empty-handed, as Dylan Shea brought home the Best Oralist award for the Regional, and Labbe was named Runner-up to Shea. These accomplishments were not surprising, as both Labbe and Shea consistently finished with the top scores in every round. This success wasn’t just limited to Shea and Labbe, as each of the competitors received high scores in each of the rounds.

For the team of Siddle, Lazaro, and Peterson, they could not overcome an unlucky matchup with the team that ultimately received the Best Brief award. Meanwhile Labbe, Shea, and Veitengruber found themselves on the wrong side of a tie-breaking vote in the final round.

Nevertheless, the Florida Moot Court Team is well positioned to make another run at a Top 16 ranking nationally with several competitions left in a variety of subjects before the year is over. This past weekend, the Florida Moot Court Team sent two teams to competitions in New York City (Entertainment Law) and Boston (Intellectual Property). Soon, the team will travel to competitions focusing on Evidence, Criminal, and Constitutional Law. For 1Ls who are interested in litigation or possess an insatiable competitive-streak, the Florida Moot Court Team will be holding informational and tabling sessions in the near future regarding tryouts this summer and will soon have a TWEN page with more details.

UF Law students Andrew Labbe, Leigh Anne Siddle, Monica Haddad and Jordan Peterson (supported by alternate Daniel Lazaro) argued before a panel of federal and state judges Sept. 10 in the 25th Annual Zimmerman Kiser Sutcliffe Moot Court Final Four Competition. The bench featured a distinguished panel of state and federal judges: The Honorable Jacqueline R. Griffin, Fifth District Court of Appeal; The Honorable Robert Hinkle, Northern District of Florida; The Honorable William Terrell Hodges, Middle District of Florida; The Honorable Paul C. Huck, Southern District of Florida; and The Honorable Steven D. Merryday, Middle District of Florida.

The oralists argued a civil rights case involving Fourth Amendment issues concerning an unlawful search and seizure of files on a student’s personal laptop, the student’s removal from the school newspaper staff and censorship of her articles in violation of her First Amendment right to free speech before the judicial panel and a standing-room-only audience in the Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center.

The students were not the only ones exited about the competition. “I like to judge these events because the quality and enthusiasm of the students blows me away,” Judge Jacqueline Griffin said. “I find it invigorating.”

While all competitors made outstanding and persuasive arguments, the Respondents, Monica Haddad and Jordan Peterson, prevailed, winning the Best Team award. Jordan Peterson won Best Overall, Monica Haddad won Best Oralist, and Aaron Wasserstrom won Best Brief.

To see the competitors’ biographies, read last week’s story.

From left: Monica Haddad, Jordan Peterson, Daniel Lazaro, Andrew Labbe and Leigh Anne Siddle.

UF Law students Leigh Anne Siddle, Andrew Labbe, Monica Haddad, and Jordan Peterson (supported by alternate Daniel Lazaro) will argue before a panel of five distinguished judges in the 25th Annual Zimmerman Kiser Sutcliffe Moot Court Final Four Competition that will take place this Friday, Sept. 10. This year’s panel will be comprised of federal and state judges from throughout the state of Florida: The Honorable Jacqueline R. Griffin, Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal; The Honorable Robert Hinkle, Northern District of Florida; The Honorable William Terrell Hodges, Middle District of Florida; The Honorable Paul C. Huck, Southern District of Florida; and The Honorable Steven D. Merryday, Middle District of Florida.

After intense preparation and participation in this summer’s Florida Moot Court Intramural competition, the final four competitors and alternate, along with 13 other exceptional competitors, became the newest members of the Florida Moot Court Team, governed by the Justice Campbell Thornal Executive Board.

The Final Four competitors will showcase their oral argument skills this Friday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m. in the recently constructed Martin H. Levin Legal Advocacy Center. All law students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend. It is expected to be a full house, so please plan to arrive early. Cell phones must be turned off or in silent mode. Come out to watch these outstanding oralists argue Fourth Amendment search and seizure issues, as well as First Amendment freedom of speech issues.

Competitor Biographies:

Leigh Anne Siddle

Leigh Anne Siddle, a native Floridian, graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Special Education. Following graduation, Siddle taught high school for several years prior to enrolling in law school. This past summer, Siddle interned for the Honorable Edward C. LaRose at the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland. In addition to competing in the 25th Annual Zimmerman Kiser Sutcliff Moot Court Final Four Competition, Siddle is also a member of the Journal of Law & Public Policy. After receiving her law degree, Siddle intends to pursue appellate work as well as conduct pro bono work in Elder Law.

Andrew Labbe

Andrew Labbe was born and raised in Cape Cod, Mass. Andrew graduated from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in History and Sociology. Immediately upon graduation, Andrew moved to Orlando to attend Barry University School of Law. While at Barry, Andrew received the Book Award in his Legal Research & Writing class both semesters, and also reached the Final Four in the First Year Moot Court Competition. During his 1L summer, Andrew interned for the General Counsel at Connextions, Inc., serving as the point person for Fortune 50 member UnitedHealth Group and other significant clients, such as TiVo and Keystone Health.

Monica Haddad

Monica Haddad is a second year law student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Monica graduated from the University of Florida in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. In 2007, she earned her master’s degree in information studies from the University of Texas at Austin. While in Austin, Monica worked for UT General Libraries and IBM. Before law school, she worked as a reference librarian and project archivist at Nova Southeastern University. During the summer of 2010, Monica worked as a research assistant for Professor William H. Page, helping update an antitrust treatise. She is a member of the Florida Journal of International Law and the Journal of Technology Law & Policy. She is also a teaching assistant for the first year Legal Research and Writing and Appellate Advocacy courses and serves as Vice President of the Intellectual Property Law and Technology Association and Secretary of the ABA Student Division at UF.

Jordan Peterson

Jordan C. Peterson is a second year law student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He was born in Jacksonville and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California with departmental honors in German Literature in 2008. After graduation, Jordan worked in the natural language division of USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies in Los Angeles, helping to develop the language function in artificial intelligence and interactive media. Outside of school, Jordan enjoys cycling, watching college football, and singing bass in the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church choir. He is interested in pursuing a career in litigation and appellate work.

Daniel Lazaro

Dan Lazaro was born and raised in New Jersey. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Miami, where he was inducted into Iron Arrow, the university’s highest honor. In addition to being an active member of the Florida Moot Court Team at the Levin College of Law, Dan is involved with the John Marshall Bar Association and OutLaw. After his first year of law school, Dan interned for United States District Judge Paul C. Huck of the Southern District of Florida and worked as a summer law clerk for the South Florida law firm, Gaebe, Mullen, Antonelli, and DiMatteo. After law school, Dan hopes to pursue a career in litigation. In his spare time, Dan enjoys reading, attending sporting events, and spending time with friends.