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Desmond competition draws from three current high court cases

Christopher Moran '11, Scott Iseman '10,
Jeffrey Fiut '10, and Joshua Agins '10

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One of UB Law School's most cherished traditions, the intramural Charles S. Desmond Moot Court Competition, had its most recent successful run in late October in courtrooms at the Law School and in downtown Buffalo.

Seventeen two-person teams competed in the tournament, which is open to second- and third-year students at the Law School and serves as a qualifier for membership on the Buffalo Moot Court Board, the school's chief moot court organization. The field experienced some attrition because of a flu outbreak among some would-be participants.

As always, accomplished lawyers from Western New York judged competitors in the preliminary rounds; Law School professors and federal and state judges evaluated the semifinalists and finalists. The judges panel for the competition's final round, held in the Law School's Francis M. Letro Courtroom, consisted of Erin M. Peradotto '84, New York State Supreme Court justice, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and U.S. Magistrate Judges H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. '61 and Leslie G. Foschio '65.

Third-year student Jeffrey V. Scherer, who heads the Buffalo Moot Court Board, said this year's problem was based on three pending U.S. Supreme Court cases: two involving the question of whether a life-without-parole prison sentence is constitutionally permissible for a juvenile in a non-homicide crime, and a third addressing the adequacy of Miranda rights that were read to a suspect.

"We wanted to create two issues that were separate and fair for both sides, so that both sides had a strong footing to argue about and it wasn't one-sided," said Scherer, who noted that Professor George Kannar had a major role in writing the problem. "We tried to make it as fair as possible and put in facts that were balanced."

The winning team of third-year students Scott Iseman and Joshua Agins also placed 1-2 as best oral advocates. The runner-up team overall, Christopher Moran and Jeffrey Fiut, was honored for best brief.

"This was something that we really wanted to do, so we worked hard and took a lot of time to prepare," Iseman said. "We would give the oral argument to each other, and the other person would interrupt and ask questions, and we brainstormed different questions that might be asked. Even so, in the last round I had some questions that I had never even contemplated."

Iseman said the Desmond competition came recommended by those who had taken part previously. "It's just one of the good practical experiences that the Law School offers," he said. "You spend a lot of your time thinking in class or doing the reading, but this is one of the opportunities to learn practical skills. More than anything, being exposed to people who are way, way smarter than me was very, very beneficial."

"Both of us enjoyed it and saw it as a learning process that was fun rather than stressful," Agins said. "Although the schooling is important and the classes are important, I feel like I've learned just as much doing these extracurricular activities. It gives you the opportunity to implement the skills you're learning in class. It's a great practical learning tool, and it's really helped me during my time here.

"The level of these competitions at Buffalo is very high. Not only the Desmond but a lot of others – there are some very high-quality competitions that students are involved with, and a lot of them go under the radar."

After Law School, Agins said, "I definitely want to be a litigator. I like the adversarial nature of litigation, the lack of predictability, the need to roll with the punches and scramble at the last minute to throw things together."

In addition to Scherer, the Buffalo Moot Court executive board includes students Jennifer Thompson, Andrew Stimson, Elise Malinowski, Michael Sabato, Thomas Johnson and Michael Birkby.