Moot Court Competition
AIPLA Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition 2020
This year marked the 47th annual AIPLA Giles S. Rich competition! It was a year like no other. With the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, and people all over the US sheltered in place, the New Lawyers Committee, which coordinates the competition, swiftly pivoted to a virtual competition, providing the opportunity for more that 40 teams to still compete.
The top teams advanced to the national finals, which also for the first time, was conducted virtually. This year’s final round was heard by US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Judges Raymond T. Chen, Todd M. Hughes, and Kara F. Stoll, who had a hard decision to make between finalists George Washington University Law School and the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
In the end, the esteemed bench selected the team from George Washington University Law School (Kayvon Ghayoumi and Alexander Davis) as this year's winner, with the team from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law (Sarah Propst and Michael Schiller) coming in second place.
With special thanks to National Directors Will Freeman and Alex Pechette, and all of the Regional Director for making this (virtual) competition happen in such uncertain times!
Watch for information on the 2021 Competition which will be available in September 2020.
Deadlines and Details
Priority deadline for submission of Notices of Intent to Compete is Friday, December 13, 2019 (11:00 pm local time).
All Notices of Intent to Compete must be submitted by the final deadline of Friday, January 17, 2020 (11:00 pm local time).
Briefs for Regional Rounds must be served by Monday, February 3, 2020 (11:00 pm local time).
All Regional Rounds will be held over three days from Friday, March 20 to Sunday, March 22, 2020.
Briefs for teams advancing to the National Rounds must be served by Friday, March 27, 2020 (11:00 pm local time).
The National Rounds will be held over three days from Wednesday, April 15 to Friday, April 17, 2020.
2019 Recap
The competition was delighted to have a number of AIPLA members and Fellows join the benches this year to challenge the students with questions and offer mentoring advice. Everyone celebrated the culmination of day one of the competition and the announcement of the first-round winners during the AIPLA Fellows Opening Night Reception at Churchkey restaurant!
This year's final round was heard by United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Judges Bryson and Dyk, as well as United States Patent & Trademark Office Director Iancu, who had a hard decision to make between finalists George Washington University and the University of Washington, St. Louis. The esteemed bench chose the team from George Washington University and joined the students and coaches for a celebratory reception at the CAFC.
The National Runner-Up Team: Margaret Helmke and Peter Jochens from Washington University in St. Louis.
The National Winners: Kathleen Geyer and Tyler Bramlet from George Washington University.