Two Mason School of Law moot court teams swept all possible top awards in the qualifying rounds of the National Moot Court Competition.
Held in Richmond, Virginia, the qualifying round drew participants from 20 top law schools from Virginia and surrounding states. This year’s competition represented the first time that both Mason teams reached the semifinals of the Region IV qualifying event.
Mason’s team of Tim Silvester, Joshua Newborn, and Kathryn Ciano finished in first place, with Silvester receiving the award for best final-round oralist.
The team of Rosie Rust, Amir Katz, and Nicole Burns secured the award for best brief and reached the semifinal round, where they suffered a narrow loss to their classmates by only 0.53 points. The combined results of nine matches for the two teams yielded eight wins, with the match between the two teams representing the only recorded loss.
Having won the competition after five rounds of arguments, the team of Silvester, Newborn, and Ciano became one of 28 teams nationwide that competed in the national rounds in New York.
In New York, Mason’s team won its first two matches to advance to the finals but then lost in a very close match. Adjunct law professor Ernie Isenstadt, who helps the students prepare for competition, says the students were disappointed to lose but pleased with their overall performance.