2023-2024 moot court competitions: See who represented Utah Law

We are proud of the hard work our moot court team members and coaches put in during the 2023-2024 school year. Below is a roundup of the various teams who competed.

Alex McFarlin, left, Anthony Tenney, Michael Meszaros, Jesus Salazar, Justin Eckman, and Jasmine Harouny stand outside the moot courtroom at the College of Law — Alex McFarlin, left, Anthony Tenney, Michael Meszaros, Jesus Salazar, Justin Eckman, and Jasmine Harouny

The Annual National Moot Court Region 13 Competition

Nov. 9-12 and Jan. 28 – Feb. 1
Salt Lake City and New York City

Coaches: Elizabeth Kronk Warner and Jason Harmon
Team 1: Anthony Tenney, Jesus Salazar, and Michael Meszaros
Team 2: Jasmine Harouny, Alex McFarlin, and Justin Eckman

The S.J. Quinney College of Law had the distinct honor of hosting the 74th Annual National Moot Court Region 13 Competition on November 9-10, 2023, and the home teams made our school proud with their incredible writing and oratory skills regarding a novel legal issue recently argued before the United States Supreme Court. Both teams wrote a case brief that was scored before the competition and then argued in two rounds where their brief score was factored into their overall scores, determining which teams would advance further in the competition. The team of Jasmine Harouny, Alex McFarlin, and Justin Eckman won Third Best Brief, and Jasmine Harouny took First Place Best Oralist. The team of Anthony Tenney, Jesus Salazar, and Michael Meszaros made it to the final round, arguing in front of Utah Supreme Court Justices Paige Petersen and Jill Pohlman and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Director, Tracy Combs and took second place overall, which secured a spot for them to compete at the National Moot Court Competition in New York City.

In January, Anthony Tenney, Jesus Salazar, and Michael Meszaros traveled to New York City to compete against teams from around the country. They received high praise from the judges for their articulate and persuasive arguments and overall mastery of the law and represented S.J. Quinney well on the national stage.

Nate Gardner (a young white man with dark brown hair), Molly Hemenway (a young white woman with long. blonde hair), Nicholas Sauer (a young man with short blonde hair), and Anthony Tenney (a young man with shoulder-length red hair and a beard) — Nate Gardner (top left), Molly Hemenway, Nicholas Sauer, and Anthony Tenney

National Trial Competition

Feb. 2-4
Denver, Colo.

Coach: Richard McKelvie
Team: Nate Gardner, Molly Hemenway, Nicholas Sauer and Anthony Tenney

In the middle of one of the biggest blizzards Denver, Colorado, has seen in the last few years, the S.J. Quinney College of Law Trial Advocacy team of Nate Gardner, Molly Hemenway, Nicholas Sauer, and Anthony Tenney competed in the Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

These competitions attract the best and best-coached teams in the country, and our team represented the S.J. Quinney community well.

Special thanks go to our student witnesses—Bree Miller, Tayzlie Haack, Arin Perkins, and Hayley Robertson—who traveled with the team and participated in rounds all the way up until the very end of the competition.

Carter Moore (a young man with short brown hair and a mustache), left, Lauren Cormany (a young blonde woman), Coach Beth Parker (a young woman with long brown hair), and Olivia Hope McQuarrie (a young woman with long brown hair with blonde highlights) — Carter Moore, left, Lauren Cormany, Coach Beth Parker, and Olivia McQuarrie

Pace Environmental Law Moot Court Competition

Feb. 22-25
White Plains, N.Y.

Coach: Beth Parker
Team: Lauren Cormany, Olivia McQuarrie and Carter Moore

Please join the Wallace Stegner Center in celebrating the College of Law’s student team of Lauren Cormany, Olivia Hope McQuarrie, and Carter Moore for their stellar performance at the National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition.

The student team and their coach, Beth Parker, senior attorney with the Stegner Center’s Law and Policy Program and The Great Salt Lake Project, attended the competition at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in White Plains, New York, on Feb. 22-24, 2024. We are pleased to share that the Stegner Center team won Best Brief for Petitioners, advanced to quarterfinals in oral arguments, and had the second-best overall brief—an excellent showing in this competition that featured student teams from 58 different law schools.

We also want to extend our gratitude to the donors who provided support for this year’s moot court team, including Jon M. and Carol B. Lear, the ENREL Section of the Utah State Bar, Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, Daniel A. Jensen, Jim Moore and Kathryn Lindquist, Mark Rodney Smith and Jenifer Tomchak, Helen Serassio, Sarah Carlquist, and Norm and Julia Johnson.

We also appreciate our judges who shared their time and expertise in judging student rounds and preparing our team for the competition. Judges included Justice Jill M. Pohlman, Judge Jared C. Bennett, Steve Marsden, Ryan Parker, Rohit Raghavan, Clifford Parkinson, Braden Parker, Jensen Lillquist, and Megan Houdeshel.

Jacob Robison (a young man with short dark-brown hair), left, Emma Russell (a young woman with long dark-brown hair), Diana Pogosyan (a young woman with pulled-back dark-brown hair), and Alexander Blankers (a young man with short brown hair) — Jacob Robison, left, Emma Russell, Diana Pogosyan, and Alexander Blankers

UCLA Transactional Law Competition

Feb. 23
Los Angeles, Calif.

Coach: Erik Christiansen
Team: Alexander Blankers, Diana Pogosyan, Jacob Robison and Emma Russell

The S.J. Quinney College of Law participated in the in-person negotiation competition at the UCLA Transactional Law Competition at the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy. Earlier in the year, the two Utah teams participated in client interviews, drafted an amendment to an agreement, and marked up competitors’ amended agreements. At the in-person negotiation competition in Los Angeles, the two Utah teams negotiated in-person against other law school teams in two separate rounds. Diana Pogosyan and Emma Russell won two awards: Best Negotiation on the buyer side and Best Overall on the buyer side of the transaction. Professor Christiansen was pleased with both Utah teams and believes that the competition provides exceptional experience for law students who want to learn document-drafting and negotiation skills. Numerous law school teams from across the country competed.

Breanna Hickerson (a young woman with shoulder-length straight blonde hair), left, and Parker Airmet (a young man with short brown hair and glasses) — Breanna Hickerson, left, and Parker Airmet

National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA) Moot Court Competition

Feb. 23-24
Missoula, Mont.

Coaches: Elizabeth Kronk Warner and Jason Harmon
Team: Parker Airmet and Breanna Hickerson

For the first time ever, two SJQ students, Parker Airmet (2L) and Breanna Hickerson (1L), competed in the National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA) Moot Court Competition. They competed against schools from all over the country and argued novel issues related to federal Indian law. Fighting through sickness, the team placed second overall out of over 50 teams from around the country in the preliminary rounds (receiving a few perfect scores from the judges) and advanced to the Sweet 16 rounds, where they were ultimately defeated by a team from UCLA Law. Judges praised the team for their exceptional written and oral advocacy skills.

Jade Trinh (a young Vietnamese woman with long black hair), left, Claira Malarkey (a young white woman with long brown hair), Andy Miller (a young bald white man), and Austin Edens (a young Hispanic man with dark-brown hair) — Jade Trinh, left, Claira Malarkey, Andy Miller, and Austin Edens

Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

Feb. 28 – March 3
Portland, Ore.

Coach: Jacqueline Morrison
Team: Austin Edens, Claira Malarkey, Andy Miller, and Jade Trinh

Result: The 2024 Jessup team excelled at the U.S. West Regional of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. All four oralists gave impressive performances, and the team’s respondent memorial tied for the third-highest score out of all 74 written submissions, narrowly missed advancing in the competition. The team would like to thank Connor Arrington, Jessica Arthurs, Sam Flitton, Amanda Fuller, Mike Meszaros, Pam Schools, Professor Anghie, Professor George, Professor Guiora, Professor Nagra, and Dean Kronk Warner for serving as guest judges in practice rounds. The team would also like to thank Professor Duval with the theater department for his support.

Matthew Petersen (a young white man with long curly brown hair and a mustace) (left) and Jeremy Pratt (a young white man with short brown hair) — Matthew Petersen (left) and Jeremy Pratt

Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial IP Moot Court Competition

March 17-19
Palo Alto, Calif.

Coach: Dave Johnson
Team: Matthew Petersen and Jeremy Pratt

Matthew Petersen and Jeremy Pratt won the best brief award for the local round and then advanced to the quarterfinals of the regional round of the AIPLA Giles S. Rich Memorial Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition. This year’s problem involved the fair-use exception to copyright infringement and a preliminary injunction. Matt and Jeremy represented the school admirably and should be proud of their accomplishments.

Truman Henderson (left), Keith Saylin, Grace Greene, Adam Snow, Bryant Holloway, Matthew Petersen, Andrew Fender, and Maggie Hawley

Traynor Moot Court Competition

March 29 & April 2

Coaches: Elizabeth Kronk Warner and Jason Harmon
Team: Truman Henderson and Keith Saylin
Team: Grace Greene and Adam Snow
Team: Bryant Holloway and Matthew Petersen
Team: Andrew Fender and Maggie Hawley

The in-house Traynor Moot Court Competition started on March 29, 2024, with Truman Henderson, Keith Saylin, Grace Greene, Adam Snow, Bryant Holloway, Matthew Petersen, Andrew Fender, and Maggie Hawley participating. All teams presented oral arguments, demonstrated their mastery of legal reasoning, research, and advocacy skills, and received valuable feedback from experienced local legal professionals. Each team argued three rounds, and the two teams with the highest scores at the end of those rounds moved on to the final round.

On April 2, 2024, the team of Grace Greene and Adam Snow for the petitioner faced the team of Andrew Fender and Maggie Hawley for the respondent in the final round in front of Judge Gregory Orme, Judge Dianna Gibson, Justice Jill Pohlman, Federal Magistrate Judge Paul Warner, and University of Utah General Counsel Phylis Vetter. Andrew Fender and Maggie Hawley won the final round with the help of their high brief score, which also earned them Best Brief. Grace Greene was awarded the Best Oralist. The amount of work that it takes to prepare for this competition paid off for all of the participants, and we are so proud of them.