Emory team wins top prize at NYU Moot Court Competition
left to right: Hana Shatila 16L, Alexandra Weiss 17L, Judge Fisher, Judge Reinhardt, Judge Paez, Kathryn Modugno 17L, Daniel Marin-Finn 16L. Photo credit: NYU Photo Bureau, Hollenshead
You have a U.S. passport.
You have a certificate stating you are a citizen born abroad.
And then, more than 20 years after your birth, you’re told that you’re not a citizen after all.
This weekend the Emory Law team was given this scenario as part of the NYU National Immigration Law Competition, where they bested University of Virginia in the final round to win the 11th annual competition.
The competition took place from Feb. 26 to Feb. 28 at New York University School of Law. The final round took place in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In the case of Tom Haverford v. United States, Kathryn Modugno 17L and Alexandra Weiss 17 competed in the for the respondents in front of ninth circuit judges, against Ninth Circuit precedent. The team was coached by Hana Shatila 16L and Daniel-Marin Finn 16L.
Fourteen teams participated, including two Harvard teams, two George Washington University teams, Georgetown, UVA, DePaul, Brooklyn, Columbia, Pace, Washington & Lee, University of Louisville, American and UCLA.
The Moot Court Board hosts the National Immigration Law Competition each year and opens it to teams from ABA-accredited law schools.