Professor Streseman, Author at Chicago-Kent Moot Court Honor Society

Fall 2014 Teams

By Professor Streseman

On August 13, 2014

In Announcements, Teams

The John Marshall Law School International Moot Court Competition in
Information Technology & Privacy Law
Chicago, Illinois
October 23-25, 2014

Amay Awad, Kelly O’Neill & Arlo Walsman

National Health Law Moot Court Competition
Carbondale, Illinois
November 7-8, 2014

Emily Herbick & Abe Wehbi

Appellate Lawyers Association Moot Court Competition
Chicago, Illinois
November 7-8, 2014

John Chambers, Vincenzo Chimera & David Repking
Melody Gaal, Paulina Lopez & Hannah Tuber

National Moot Court Competition
Region VIII Tournament
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
November 8-9, 2014

Iman Boundaoui & John Jefferson
Teri McClerklin, Jake Radecki & Eric Shinabarger

National Veterans Law Moot Court Competition
Washington D.C.
November 15-16

Michael Albert & Ryan Hanneken
Lyal Fox III & Jared Reynolds

Andrews Kurth Moot Court National Championship
Houston, Texas
January 2015

Matt Jarka & Jerry Urbik

22th Annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Competition Results

By Professor Streseman

On November 23, 2013

In Rovner Competition

November 13, 2013

Koplan Nwabuoku, a third-year student at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, has won the 22nd annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition, sponsored by the law school’s Moot Court Honor Society. The competition is named for IIT Chicago-Kent graduate Ilana Diamond Rovner, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Third-year student Koplan Nwabuoku (top, right) argued against second-year student John Jefferson (top, left) to win IIT Chicago-Kent's 2013 Ilana Diamond Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition. Bottom row, from left: The Honorable Robert E. Gordon, the Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner '66, and Distinguished Professor Sheldon H. Nahmod judged the final round of the competition.

Third-year student Koplan Nwabuoku (top, right) argued against second-year student John Jefferson (top, left) to win IIT Chicago-Kent’s 2013 Ilana Diamond Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition. Bottom row, from left: The Honorable Robert E. Gordon, the Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner ’66, and Distinguished Professor Sheldon H. Nahmod judged the final round of the competition.

Students in the Rovner Competition each prepare a brief in a case that raises an issue of national concern, as well as oral arguments supporting both sides of that issue. Students present those arguments before panels consisting of IIT Chicago-Kent faculty, practicing attorneys and experienced moot court students. The top-scoring students advance through a series of elimination rounds.

This year, students argued Woollard v. Gallagher, a Second Amendment case out of Maryland challenging that state’s so-called “may-issue” concealed carry law. At issue is whether state officials violate the Second Amendment by requiring that individuals wishing to exercise their right to carry a handgun for self-defense first prove a “good and substantial reason” for doing so.

In the final round, Koplan Nwabuoku argued against second-year student John Jefferson. As the winner of the final round of competition, Nwabuoku received the Ilana Diamond Rovner Award for Outstanding Appellate Advocate and a $500 scholarship. Finalist Jefferson received a $250 scholarship from the Edmund G. Burke Scholarship Fund.

Rovner Competition winner Koplan Nwabuoku graduated from Tulane University with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and international development. He served as president of the Tulane Organization for Global Affairs and was also a member of Tulane’s track and field team. He is originally from Kaduna, Nigeria, and calls Houston, Texas, home. Finalist John Jefferson graduated from Westmont College with honors and then taught seventh-grade English in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Teach for America. Jefferson is a judicial extern for United States District Court Judge Ruben Castillo and is a member of the Chicago-Kent Law Review.

Second-year student Nicholas Bartzen received the Fay Clayton Award for Outstanding Oralist and a $250 scholarship. Fay Clayton, who graduated with honors from IIT Chicago-Kent in 1978, is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Robinson, Curley and Clayton, P.C. Her legal experience includes numerous trials, appeals, mediations, and arbitrations in tribunals, including the United States Supreme Court.

Melody Gaal, a second-year student, received the Ralph L. Brill Award for Best Brief and a $250 scholarship. Professor Ralph Brill, a member of the faculty since 1961, founded the law school’s groundbreaking legal research and writing program and its award-winning moot court program.

The final round of the competition was judged by a distinguished panel that included the Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner, the Honorable Robert E. Gordon of the Illinois Appellate Court, and IIT Chicago-Kent Distinguished Professor Sheldon H. Nahmod.

Established in 1992, the Ilana Diamond Rovner Program in Appellate Advocacy provides training for students in IIT Chicago-Kent’s Moot Court Honor Society. Students in the program complete intensive course work in appellate litigation, represent the law school in appellate advocacy tournaments throughout the United States, and are eligible to participate in the Ilana Diamond Rovner Competition.

Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. In 2008 and 2009, IIT Chicago-Kent won the National Moot Court Competition, the largest appellate advocacy tournament in the United States. In 2008, IIT Chicago-Kent became the first law school to win both the National Trial Competition and the National Moot Court Competition in the same year.

– See more at: http://www.kentlaw.iit.edu/news/2013/rovner-appellate-advocacy-competition-2013-winners#sthash.NZm9YrCQ.dpuf

21st Annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Competition Results

By Professor Streseman

On December 11, 2012

In Rovner Competition

December 11, 2012

Laurence Tooth, a third-year student at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, has won the 21st annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition, sponsored by the law school’s Moot Court Honor Society. The competition is named for IIT Chicago-Kent graduate Ilana Diamond Rovner ’66, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Third-year student Laurence Tooth (top, left) argued against second-year student David Starshak (top, right) to win IIT Chicago-Kent’s 21st annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition. Bottom row, from left: The Honorable Diane Wood, the Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner ’66, and Professor Michael Scodro, currently on leave to serve as Illinois Solicitor General, judged the final round of the competition.

Students in the Rovner Competition each prepare a brief in a case that raises an issue of national concern, as well as oral arguments supporting both sides of that issue. Students present those arguments before panels consisting of IIT Chicago-Kent faculty, practicing attorneys and experienced moot court students. The top-scoring students advance through a series of elimination rounds.

This year, students argued a constitutional challenge to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defines “marriage” as the legal union of one man and one woman. At issue is whether Congress’s refusal to recognize state-sanctioned marriages violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

In the final round, Laurence Tooth argued against second-year student David Starshak. As the winner of the final round of competition, Tooth received the Ilana Diamond Rovner Award for Outstanding Appellate Advocate and a $500 scholarship. Runner-up Starshak received a $250 scholarship from the Edmund G. Burke Scholarship Fund.

Rovner Competition winner Laurence Tooth graduated with honors from Trinity College with a bachelor’s degree in German studies and a minor in legal studies. Following graduation, Tooth taught English in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship. He is a submissions editor for the Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property Law. Tooth currently is a law clerk at Spencer Stuart, a management consulting firm, and a judicial extern for the Honorable Mary L. Mikva, judge of the Cook County Circuit Court. David Starshak graduated from Kansas State University with a bachelor of science degree in political science and a minor in leadership studies. Starshak is a member of the Chicago-Kent Law Review. He currently is a law clerk at Whiteside & Goldberg, Ltd.

Second-year student Ryan Moore received the Fay Clayton Award for Outstanding Oralist and a $250 scholarship. Fay Clayton, who graduated with honors from IIT Chicago-Kent in 1978, is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Robinson, Curley and Clayton, P.C. Her legal experience includes numerous trials, appeals, mediations, and arbitrations in tribunals including the United States Supreme Court.

Claudia Cortes, a second-year evening student, received the Ralph L. Brill Award for Best Brief and a $250 scholarship. Professor Ralph Brill, a member of the faculty since 1961, founded the law school’s groundbreaking legal research and writing program and its award-winning moot court program.

The final round of the competition was judged by a distinguished panel that included the Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner, the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and Illinois Solicitor General Michael A. Scodro.

Established in 1992, the Ilana Diamond Rovner Program in Appellate Advocacy provides training for students in IIT Chicago-Kent’s Moot Court Honor Society. Students in the program complete intensive course work in appellate litigation, represent the law school in appellate advocacy tournaments throughout the United States, and are eligible to participate in the Ilana Diamond Rovner Competition.

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. In 2008 and 2009, IIT Chicago-Kent won the National Moot Court Competition, the largest appellate advocacy tournament in the United States. In 2008, IIT Chicago-Kent became the first law school to win both the National Trial Competition and the National Moot Court Competition in the same year.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Gwendolyn Osborne
Director of Public Affairs
gosborne@kentlaw.iit.edu
(312) 906-5251

20th Annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Competition Results

By Professor Streseman

On November 23, 2011

In Rovner Competition

November 23, 2011

From left: The Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner ’66 with second-year student Emily Chase-Sosnoff, winner of IIT Chicago-Kent’s 20th annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition.

Emily Chase-Sosnoff, a second-year student at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, has won the 20th annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition, sponsored by the law school’s Moot Court Honor Society. The competition is named for IIT Chicago-Kent graduate Ilana Diamond Rovner ’66, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Students in the Rovner Competition each prepare a brief in a case that raises an important issue of national concern, as well as oral arguments supporting both sides of that issue. Students present those arguments before panels consisting of IIT Chicago-Kent faculty, practicing attorneys and experienced moot court students. The top-scoring students advance through a series of elimination rounds.

This year, students argued Thomas More Law Center v. Obama, one of several cases in the federal courts challenging the constitutionality of various provisions of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Thomas More Law Center v. Obama isolates the most contentious constitutional issue: whether Congress exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause by requiring citizens to maintain minimum essential healthcare coverage or pay a penalty. On November 14, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments in the case in March of 2012. A ruling by the justices is anticipated before the 2012 elections.

In the final round, Emily Chase-Sosnoff argued against second-year student Irena Kin. As the winner of the final round of competition, Chase-Sosnoff received the Ilana Diamond Rovner Award for Outstanding Appellate Advocate and a $500 scholarship. Runner-up Kin received a $250 scholarship from the Edmund G. Burke Scholarship Fund.

Rovner Competition winner Emily Chase-Sosnoff is a member of the Chicago-Kent Law Review. She is an honors graduate of the University of Chicago, with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in environmental studies. While in undergraduate school, Chase-Sosnoff studied Mandarin Chinese and taught English in Beijing.

Irena Kin graduated summa cum laude from DePaul University with a bachelor of arts degree in international studies and a minor in Mandarin Chinese. This past summer, she worked on corporate commercial law matters at Jincheng, Tongda & Neal in Shanghai.

Second-year student Prava Palacharla received the Fay Clayton Award for Outstanding Oralist and a $250 scholarship. Clayton, who graduated with honors from Chicago-Kent in 1978, is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Robinson, Curley and Clayton, P.C. Her legal experience includes numerous trials, appeals, mediations, and arbitrations in tribunals including the United States Supreme Court. Caroline Teichner, a third-year student, received the Ralph L. Brill Award for Best Brief and a $250 scholarship. Professor Ralph Brill, a member of the faculty since 1961, founded the law school’s groundbreaking legal research and writing program and its award-winning moot court program.

The final round of the competition was judged by a distinguished panel that included the Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the Honorables Richard D. Cudahy and Ann Claire Williams, also judges of the United States Court for the Seventh Circuit.

Established in 1992, the Ilana Diamond Rovner Program in Appellate Advocacy provides training for students in IIT Chicago-Kent’s Moot Court Honor Society. Students in the program complete intensive course work in appellate litigation, represent the law school in appellate advocacy tournaments throughout the United States, and are eligible to participate in the Ilana Diamond Rovner Competition.

IIT Chicago-Kent’s advocacy programs have a tradition of excellence. This year, Chicago-Kent teams placed first and second and won all five individual awards in the Appellate Lawyers Association’s 2011 Moot Court Competition. IIT Chicago-Kent also won the National Moot Court Competition regional championship.

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law.