Pepperdine Law Competes at 2018 Moot Court National Championship

February 8, 2018 | Each year, the top 16 moot court programs in the country are invited to compete in the prestigious Andrews Kurth Moot Court National Championship at the University of Houston Law Center. The competition determines the "best of the best" Moot Court programs in the nation. In a recent article by the National Jurist's preLaw magazine, Pepperdine Law was ranked as one of the best schools for moot court. The article notes, "Even as they vie for the championship trophy, the nation's top moot court programs all have several things in common: They are stacked with competitive and driven students; they are led by dedicated volunteer coaches and faculty members; and they are focused on teaching transferable skills. for the practice of law."

Pepperdine Law was among the 2018 competitors in Houston, and team members included Katherine Ellena, Katie Henderson, and Jake McIntosh. Professor Hilary Reed (JD '04), Zach Tafoya (JD '14), and Cory Batza (JD '17) served as this year's coaches. The team advanced to the quarterfinals.

Moot Court is about both written and oral advocacy and so the scoring methodology for the Championship is designed to incorporate not only team awards, but Best Brief and Best Speaker awards as well. Katie Henderson was awarded Best Oral Advocate.

Pepperdine Law maintains a national reputation for excellence in oral advocacy, and this year's team proved no exception. Congratulations to our outstanding competitors.