Congratulations to all Utah Law students and coaches who participated in competitions during the 2025-2026 school year! Below is a roundup of the various teams who competed.
National Moot Court Competition
Nov. 13-14, 2025
Missoula, Montana
Coaches: Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner, Rebecca Ryon (JD ’07), and Jason Harmon
Team: Ruben Castren, Brady Fuller, and Lane Burgess
The S.J. Quinney College of Law team represented the school with professionalism and determination at this year’s regional moot court competition. Selected from the top performers in the prior year’s intra-school Traynor Moot Court Competition, the team earned the opportunity to compete against a strong field of peers from across the region. They demonstrated solid advocacy skills, thoughtful legal analysis, and a clear commitment to preparation throughout the event. The team was coached by our very own Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner, along with two practicing attorneys, Rebecca Ryon and Jason Harmon, whose guidance and mentorship were instrumental in supporting the students throughout the competition.
ABA Law Student Tax Challenge
Jan. 15-17, 2026
San Diego, California
Coach: Associate Professor Erick Sam
Team: Sydney Starr and Taylor Crittenden
Several teams of students from Utah competed in the Law Student Tax Challenge, organized by the American Bar Association’s Tax Section’s New Tax Practitioner Committee. Sydney Starr and Taylor Crittenden advanced to the national competition in the JD division and placed second nationally.
Unlike traditional moot court competitions, the LSTC asks two-person teams to solve a complex business problem that might arise in everyday tax practice. Teams are initially evaluated on two criteria: a memorandum to a senior partner, and a letter to a client explaining the result. Based on the written work product, six teams from the JD division and four teams from the LLM division receive a free trip to the Tax Section’s midyear meeting, where each team presents its submission before a panel of judges consisting of the country’s top tax practitioners and government officials, including tax court judges. Congrats to Sydney and Taylor for representing Utah so well!
National Trial Competition
Feb. 6-8, 2026
Seattle, Washington
Coach: Honorable Richard McKelvie (JD ’81)
Teams: Constance Holder and Wyatt Trull, and Aliza Murad and Charles Moffat
The S.J. Quinney College of Law Trial Advocacy program sent two teams—Aliza Murad and Charles Moffat, and Constance Holder and Wyatt Trull—to the Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition at the University of Washington School of Law.
In a region with some of the most trained and skilled teams in the country, our teams represented Utah well. Special thanks to our witnesses—students India Alfonso, Maggie Zapton, and Brock Smith, and Associate Clinical Professor Kristin Baughman—who traveled with the team and participated in all the primary rounds of the competition, and coach Richard McKelvie, who has a long history of coaching Utah teams and is well-respected in the region.
National NALSA Moot Court Competition
Feb. 13-14, 2026
Chicago, Illinois
Coaches: Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner and Professor Colette Routel
Teams: Lily Closson and Brenden Anderson; Sophie Jensen and Isaac Santos; Abigail Alexander and Paige Lee; Gloria Aquino and Will Clark
The College of Law was excited to send four teams to Chicago to compete in the annual National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA) moot court competition hosted by the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. All four teams competed in an all-day, intense competition on Friday, Feb. 13, and were complimented on their professionalism, knowledge of the law, and persuasiveness. Brenden Anderson and Lily Closson were one of the 16 teams to advance from the field of over 70 teams to the Sweet 16 round. We are very proud of how well the teams did.
Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (Pace Moot Court Competition)
Feb. 19-21, 2026
White Plains, New York
Coaches: Sydney Sell (JD ’19) and Gordon Rowe (JD ’19)
Team: Andie Madsen, Claire Munsell, and Kyle Lowe
Claire, Kyle, and Andie performed excellently throughout the entire competition, which featured student teams from 53 different law schools. The team advanced past the preliminary rounds and into the quarterfinals, where they faced fierce competition. The students’ deep understanding of the law was clear in every round. Each set of judges commented on our team’s ability to engage with them on complicated topics and go down substantive rabbit holes without missing a beat. We should all be proud of these incredibly bright students.
We are also thrilled to report that Andie Madsen was awarded the Best Oralist Honorable Mention for the entire competition. This means Andie had the second-best score in the preliminary rounds out of approximately 160 competitors! This is an outstanding individual achievement on a national stage.
The coaches want to express how proud they are of the team for their hard work, dedication, and passion, and they want to thank the attorneys and Utah faculty who helped prepare the moot court team for the competition for their invaluable time and expertise.
UCLA Transactional Moot Court Competition
Feb. 20, 2026
Los Angeles, California
Coaches: Erik Christiansen (JD ’90) and Delight Roberts (JD ’95)
Teams: Angelo Haley and Mitchell Smith and Zephraim Childs and Taylor Hill
Utah Law sent two teams to compete at the UCLA transactional negotiation competition. Zephraim Childs and Taylor Hill won first place for Best Negotiation and Best Draft on the Seller Side.
The competition is a unique opportunity to practice negotiating a business deal with opposing counsel, gain experience drafting the relevant documents, and receive real-time feedback from experienced lawyers.
2026 National Patent Application Drafting Competition
Feb. 20, 2026
Virtual
Coach: Ken Horton
Team: Braden Brown and James Finn
Braden and James placed second in the regional round of the 2026 National Patent Application Drafting Competition held by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and they just missed out advancing to the national round. The competition introduces students to issues arising in U.S. patent law and develops their patent application drafting, amending, and prosecution skills. Braden and James represented the school excellently and should be proud of their accomplishments and the practical skills they gained by competing.
Thank you to Maschoff Brennan, who sponsored the team!
Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition
March 4-8, 2026
Atlanta, Georgia
Coach: Experiential Education Director Jacqueline Morrison
Team: Sydney Brubaker, Connor Davis, Henry Flitton, Margaret Gibson, and Derrick Peterson
The 2026 Jessup team excelled at the King & Spalding United States National Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. The team spent countless hours preparing arguments on issues related to third-party intervention, state immunity, ne bis in idem, FPIC (free, prior, and informed consent), general principles, and customary international law. The team’s oralists each delivered polished, well-reasoned arguments to judges from around the world against competitors from across the country. The team would like to thank Becca Huber for her support guest judging.
Traynor Moot Court Competition
March 27-31, 2026
Salt Lake City, Utah
Coaches: Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner and Jason Harmon
The in-house Traynor Moot Court Competition had 23 second-year students participating across 11 teams. All teams drafted appellate briefs, presented oral arguments, demonstrated their mastery of legal reasoning, research, and advocacy skills and received valuable feedback from experienced local legal professionals.
Hattie Poole and Sophie Corbett faced Sinndy Rios and Emi Yamazaki in the final round in front of Judge Rich Federico of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and Justices Diana Hagen and Jill Pohlman of the Utah Supreme Court. Hattie Poole and Sophie Corbett won the final, and several other students won awards for their oral and written advocacy.
First best overall team: Hattie Poole and Sophie Corbett
Second best overall team: Sinndy Rios and Emi Yamazaki
Third best overall team: Jake Carlsen and Aubrey Darden
Best oralists:
- First place: Izy Lyon
- Second place: Emi Yamazaki
- Third place: Hattie Poole
- Fourth place: Sophie Corbett
- Fifth place: Sinndy Rios
Best briefs:
- First place: Jake Carlsen and Aubrey Darden
- Second place: Ben Kunz and Nelson Lotz
- Third place: Sinndy Rios and Emi Yamazaki