Competitors, from left, John Terwilleger (2L), Camilla Cohen (2L), Steve McCloskey (2L), Katherine Thomason (2L) and Hanna Edeback (2L) returned from Houston last month with a fifth-place finish out of 23 teams.

By Katherine Mockler (3L)

The University of Florida Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court team finished fifth out of 23 law schools at this year’s U.S. South Super Regional Competition.

The competition team, composed of Camilla Cohen (2L), Hanna Edeback (2L), Steve McCloskey (2L), John Terwilleger (2L) and Katherine Thomason (2L), and coached by team President Christian Packard (3L), Vice President Amy Levenberg (3L), and Secretary Katherine Mockler (3L), traveled Feb. 24-25 for the competition in Houston.

The team received an award for submitting a top-ranked memorial, which demonstrates the team’s excellent writing and research skills, and also gave exceptional performances during oral arguments, which advanced the team to the quarterfinalist round.

This year’s topic concerned the destruction of a historic cultural temple, intervention in a humanitarian crisis and the court’s jurisdiction for forced labor claims. Presenting arguments on often-undeveloped topics in international law before a mock International Court of Justice required significant preparation and practice. Guided by student coaches, team members invested 10 to 15 hours each week practicing, discussing and shaping arguments, while taking their normal full-time class schedule.

“I am proud the Jessup Team continues to finish at the top of a very competitive region,” said Jon Mills, dean emeritus and faculty advisor of the team. “Our team had great leadership and I expect we will continue to excel.”

The team has hardly paused to savor this record-setting victory, as its attention has already turned to next year’s competition.

John Terwilleger, rising president of the Jessup team, said “Jessup is a unique experience that gave us the opportunity to address world issues that we see on the news every day. We are looking forward to building next year’s team and we hope that any 1Ls or 2Ls who are interested in competing next year will come try out.”

Federalist Society ranked among top chapters
According to the National Federalist Society, the UF College of Law Chapter is ranked among the top four chapters in the U.S. Please congratulate Professor Steven Willis and Josh Mize, president of the UF chapter, on this well-deserved honor.

ICAM team receives honorable mention in Vienna
At this year’s Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held in Vienna, Austria, the team from University of Florida received two important recognitions. The team won an honorable mention for its Claimant’s brief, drafted by all members with editing credit to Andres Healy, and Julianne Parker earned an honorable mention for her oral arguments. Law students from around the world compete in the Vis Moot each year, with over 250 schools and over 1,400 students in attendance. The UF team consisted of Joe Wheeler, Anastasia Campbell, Sasha Funk, Andres Healy, Olga Butkevich, Chana Cannon, and Julianne Parker. This is a new high in terms of recognition for the UF team. The team is coached by Professors Dawson and Harrison as well as Miami attorney Eduardo Palmer. Throughout the semester it was benched by Professors Hurst, Davis, Powell, Sokol and Professor Larry DiMatteo from the College of Business. UF’s oral rounds included arguments with the teams from Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, Universidad Panamericana in Mexico, University of Mainz in Germany, and Universite Pantheon-Assas in France.

Congratulations to the UF Jessup International Law Moot Court Team
In February, the Jessup team competed in the 51st annual Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the world’s largest moot court competition with participants from more than 500 law schools in more than 80 countries. The Jessup team placed sixth out of 24 teams competing in the U.S. Southeast Super Regional round, reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. The participants were 2Ls Matthew Kozyra, Jason Taylor, Steven Blickensderfer, Lindsey Franco, and Jennifer Shepard. The team also took home the title of fifth best brief out of the 24 teams that competed. Individually, Steven Blickensderfer was named 15th best oralist out of all individual oralists at the Southeast Super Regional round. UF Jessup annually competes in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, which focuses on public international law and humanitarian law. For more information about the UF Jessup team, please visit the Jessup Web site at or e-mail Jason Taylor at ufjessupmootcourt@gmail.com.

Environmental and Land Use students, faculty and friends paddle Matanzas River
Faculty and students associated with the Environmental and Land Use Law Program recently took advantage of a Spring Break rain check and fabulous weather to paddle the Matanzas River Estuary on Florida’s Northeast Coast. The kayak trip was originally scheduled as the final field trip for the Program’s Marine and Coastal Law and Policy Field Course but inclement weather dashed any possibilities. The Matanzas River Estuary is currently being considered for designation as an Outstanding Florida Water under Florida law, which imposes a non-degradation standard on designated waters. The Florida Department of Environmental Regulation will hold a hearing on the proposed designation on April 13 in Palm Coast. Following the 3.5 hour long paddle, the paddlers enjoyed the sunset from the back deck of the home of UF Law alumnus and former EPA Region 4 Administrator John Hankinson, whose home overlooks an arm of the estuary and the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, Conservation Clinic Director Tom Ankersen and CGR Associate in Law Richard Hamann, together with 2009 JD and ELULP program graduates Rachel King and John November and 2010 ELULP LLM candidate Megan Wegerif, recently published a law review article on the regulatory and practical effect of OFW designation in the Sea Grant Law and Policy Journal, based on recent work of the Conservation Clinic.

Sam Warfield selected for Law Student Award
Second-year law student Sam Warfield has been selected as the recipient of the Law Student Award by the Executive Council for the Florida Bar City, County and Local Government Section. He will be presented with a cash award and plaque at the section’s annual awards luncheon for his outstanding academic performance in Professor Wolf’s course on local government law.

Participate in the 2010 law school student survey
UF Law has agreed to participate in the 2010 Vault Law School Student Survey. The information from this survey may be included in the 7th edition of the Vault Law School Buzz Book and will appear on the Vault.com Web site. Your participation will help countless prospective students make key choices during the law school application process. In completing this survey, we encourage you to be candid as your identity will remain anonymous. During the course of the survey, you will be asked for certain information that you may feel makes you identifiable to your school. However, any responses we quote will not be paired with any information that will allow your school to identify the quoted student. Please complete the survey by Friday, May 14, 2010.
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