February 18, 2016

Moot Court Team Wins Best Brief at Invitational Competition

At the 45th Annual William B. Spong, Jr. Invitational Moot Court Tournament at William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia, Southwestern’s team of Maria Kabayan, Daniel Kadin, and Emily Rehm took home the First Place Respondent Brief award.

In addition to Southwestern, the teams participating in the competition represented Elon University, Georgetown University, Liberty University, Marquette University, New York University, South Texas, St. John’s University, University of Notre Dame, University of Richmond, and University of Virginia.

Evening student Rehm served as writer, but she said the success of the brief was a team effort. “Daniel and Maria were my dream team,” Rehm said. “After they contributed phenomenal research to create our foundation, they really let me take full control of writing and shaping the brief. They provided constant support and reassurance. I could not have asked for better teammates. I’m thrilled to have been able to represent Southwestern’s Moot Court Honors Program once again and bring back another win.”

Professor Rachel VanLandingham, who served as their coach, said, “The team gave masterful performances during preliminary rounds, with their professionalism and poise winning kudos from all. They literally could not have been better representatives of everything great that Southwestern Law School stands for.”

The problem the team took on involved the interpretation of statutory language in the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and whether the Court should adopt the mosaic theory of the Fourth Amendment. The team’s brief represented the United States and argued that the CFAA includes unauthorized use, not just access, and that individually constitutional non-searches cannot, when aggregated, add up to a search.