November 21, 2005

University of Tulsa teams win moot court contest

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Teams from the University of Tulsa College of Law took the top two spots at the 14th annual National Health Law Moot Court Competition held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11 and 12, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

The team of Bryan Harrington and Jason Lile placed first in the Nov. 12 finals, and their school receives a $1,000 scholarship from the American College of Legal Medicine Foundation. Another University of Tulsa team, represented by Jamiee Reed and Wendy Higgins, finished second and received a $750 scholarship grant.

Both squads were undefeated until they met in the finals. This is the second time in the competition's history that two teams from the same school argued each other in the finals. South Texas College of Law accomplished the same feat in 2001.

Thirty teams from 20 law schools from around the country participated in the two-day event at SIUC's Hiram H. Lesar Law Building. The teams consisted of second- and third-year law school students. The students argued a hypothetical case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a right-to-die issue based on the Terri Schiavo case.

Lile was a member of a team that finished second in the overall competition last year. He received the competition's best overall oralist award and a $500 scholarship.

The victory by the University of Tulsa College of Law is its second in three years. The event is the only health law competition in the country.

The Indiana University-Indianapolis School of Law team of Lisa Gethers and Vanessa Voight was third, and they receive a $500 scholarship. Voight was also chosen best preliminary round oralist and receives $250 from the SIUC law school's Center for Health Law and Policy.

The Loyola University-Chicago School of Law team of Cavan Doyle and Christine Wiles submitted the runner-up best brief and received a $250 scholarship from the law school's Center for Health Law and Policy. The Quinnipiac University School of Law team of Hunter Tzovarras and Amanda Moore submitted the best brief, and received $500 from the American College of Legal Medicine Foundation.

The judges for the final round were U.S. District Court Judge David Herndon of the Southern District of Illinois, a 1977 SIUC law school graduate; Dr. Philip A. Shelton, president of the American College of Legal Medicine; and professor Kathy L. Cerminara of the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale-Davie, Fla.

Nine panelists from the American College of Legal Medicine judged briefs submitted by the students.

Competition sponsors are SIUC's law school Center for Health Law and Policy, the School of Medicine's Department of Medical Humanities, the American College of Legal Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine Foundation.

Next year's competition is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 10-11, 2006.

Creating citizen-leaders with global perspectives is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.