University of Florida Wins 1999 Moot Court

Web posted and Copyright © May 1, 1999, American Bankruptcy Institute.

he University of Florida College of Law won the Seventh Annual Judge Conrad B. Duberstein National Moot Court Competition, defeating the University of Texas at Austin Law School in the finals. A record 22 school teams competed this year. A team from the University of Alabama School of Law won for the best brief, while a student from UT-Austin won for best oralist. Alabama was the defending Duberstein champion and reached the semi-final round this year, along with the University of Mississippi.

This year's fact pattern involved a complex mass tort claim within a chapter 11 case, and the propriety of a channeling injunction in a non-asbestos case. The problem was developed by Nicole L. Inman, Editor-in-Chief of the ABI Law Review.

The final round was judged by Judge Duberstein, Chief Judge Tina Brozman (S.D.N.Y.) and four judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals: Diana Gribbon Motz (4th Cir.), Marjorie O. Rendell (3rd Cir.), Deanell Reece Tacha (10th Cir.) and Stephen S. Trott (9th Cir.). The finals were held at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Sponsored by ABI and St. John's University School of Law, the competition is the only national moot court in bankruptcy. The competition is named for Judge Duberstein, Chief Judge, E.D.N.Y., an alumnus of St. John's University School of Law and a former member of the ABI Board of Directors. Faculty advisor to the event is Prof. Robert M. Zinman.