Luke Charles Moore Invitational 2007 Overview and Appreciation
March 16, 2007
The Charles Hamilton Houston Moot National Moot Court Team and the Howard Law Fair Housing Clinic hosted a very successful Luke Charles Moore Invitational (LCMI) civil rights moot court competition on March 2-3.
Howard Law opened its doors to twenty-two moot court teams from schools across the country. As a result of this year’s collaboration with the Fair Housing Clinic, the competitors addressed arguments regarding zoning regulations which touched on Fair Housing Act and Equal Protection Clause issues. (Please visit www.howardfairhousing.org for more information about the Fair Housing Clinic).
Howard Law professors, alumni and members of the local bar participated as judges during the competition. The judges were extremely impressed by the quality and depth of the competitors arguments and were even more impressed by the efforts put forth by both the team and the Fair Housing Clinic to run an organized and well-run competition.
Eight teams advanced from preliminary rounds on Friday to the quarterfinal rounds held on Saturday at the D.C. Superior Court House. Those teams were: (1) Cincinnati, (2) Duke, (3) Florida State University, (4) New York University, (5, 6) Thomas Jefferson School of Law (two teams), and (7,8) Chapman University School of Law. Ultimately, the field had to be narrowed down to the two best teams:
FSU and Duke.
The winner, Duke (Steve Schindler and Chris Richardson), took home the overall prize by a vote of the judges, while FSU (Lisa Milnamow and Ben Webster) went home with the second place prize and best brief overall. The Best Oralist Award went to Tom Vogele of Chapman University School of Law.
All of the participants received certificates during an awards banquet at the Embassy Suites hotel in Chevy Chase Pavillion Saturday evening.
Competitors provided positive feedback about the competition and many teams expressed their intent to return to Howard to compete in LCMI next year. The Luke Charles Moore Moot Court competition is Howard Law’s annual national competition.
The team thanks everyone who participated as a brief grader and “justice” during the competition. The team expresses special thanks to Dean Okianer Christian Dark and Dean Patricia M. Worthy for their hard work in soliciting judges, Fair Housing Clinic Fellow Adrienne De Cuire for sacrificing endless hours to work on the competition, and Professor Robert Fabrikant.
The members of the Charles Hamilton Houston moot court team would also like to express their deep gratitude to the University, the administration, professors, staff, and the Howard University Fair Housing Clinic for their graciousness with LCMI this year.
Diana V. Vilmenay
Howard University School of Law
J.D. Candidate, 2007