March 13, 2017

Moot Court Team Wins Best Advocate, Reaches Semi-Finals

At the Bryant-Moore Moot Court Competition held the first weekend of March at Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., Southwestern’s team of Harmony Anderson, Reneh Sepanosian and Sherron Wiggins performed very well, finishing the competition as semi-finalists. Additionally, Wiggins was named best advocate.

Ten schools competed at the event, but the names of the participating teams were kept anonymous. Southwestern’s team completed four rounds. Wiggins credits her teammates, Professor Catherine Carpenter, Professor Alexandra D’Italia, and Southwestern’s faculty judges for shaping her into a strong and successful advocate.

“The competition was an absolute joy,” Wiggins said. “The problem that we argued was both interesting and intellectually stimulating. Each competition round required that I answer questions from a panel of three judges, and that I made it through my entire legal argument (all in under 15 minutes!). I truly believe that our Moot Court program helped me to develop command of the room, endurance, responsiveness to questions, and poise.”

The team argued a problem in which they explored the Substantial Disruption Doctrine, as set forth in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District. They explored how it applies to speakers or onlookers; and specifically, whether a school’s dress code passes Constitutional muster under the Due Process Clause.