TYLA Hosts Annual State Moot Court Tournament

TYLA Hosts Annual State Moot Court Tournament
By: M. Kaylan Dunn

The Texas Young Lawyers Association hosted its annual State Moot Court Competition on June 19-21, 2018 in Houston.  Students from eight law schools from across the state participated in the competition.  The competitors addressed issues related to the care, control, and possession requirements for legal standing to initiate a SAPCR proceeding, error preservation related to summary judgment evidence, and the recognition of the sham affidavit rule in the summary judgment context.  More than 80 local practitioners and judges presided over the seven preliminary rounds.  Judges from the First Court of Appeals, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, and Fort Bend County judged the semifinal rounds.

Baylor University and Texas Tech University competed in the final round of the competition, which was presided over by current and former members of the Texas Supreme Court and the Fourteenth Court of Appeals.  The team from Baylor University won the tournament!  The winning competitors were Haley Mowdy, Max Brown, and Kyle Stone.

In addition to the grand prize, the following prizes were awarded:

Best Brief: Texas Tech University
Second Best Brief: Baylor University
Third Best Brief: South Texas College of Law Houston

Best Oral Advocate: Kristen Gavigan, Texas Tech University
Second Best Oral Advocate: Haley Mowdy, Baylor University
Third Best Oral Advocate: Sophia George, St. Mary’s University

M. Kaylan Dunn is an associate in the litigation section at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP in Houston.  She can be reached by email.