Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board

The Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board is a student-run, honorary organization that focuses on recruiting and training the finest oral and written advocates in the country and is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious advocacy program at the University of Miami School of Law. The Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board is now ranked the 3^rd best Moot Court program in the nation, #1 on the East Coast, and #1 in Florida. This is the highest ranking in our moot court program's 70-year history! 

The Moot Court Board was founded in 1953. Named in 2006 for the fifty-five-year member of the Florida Bar, former member of the Florida Legislature, and true “lawyer’s lawyer,” the Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board is committed to fostering and honing those qualities that its namesake represents: skill, passion, and excellence in advocacy. With the support of the University of Miami School of Law as well as alumni, judges and practitioners, the Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board strives to impart those skills on its current and future members through this unique program and incredible opportunity.

The Moot Court Board is grateful to these dedicated alumni, judges, practitioners and faculty who volunteer their time coaching and mooting our student teams. We thank them for their invaluable knowledge, experience and commitment.

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John T. Gaubatz Moot Court Competition

The Gaubatz competition is the main moot court contest at Miami Law used to select the top twenty-five advocates for the Charles C. Papy Moot Court Board based on performance. Competitors argue their respective positions in front of three very distinguished judges. 

How to Join

Application to the Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board is open to second- and third-year students of the University of Miami School of Law who have demonstrated excellence in written and oral advocacy. Each fall semester, the Board hosts the John T. Gaubatz Competition to determine the incoming class of moot court board candidates. Participation in the Gaubatz Competition is open to those University of Miami School of Law students who have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for second-year (2Ls) students or 3.2 or higher for third-year students (3Ls) by the registration deadline. Membership is then extended to the top 25 second-year law students as well as to those third-year law students who rank in the top 25 competitors overall.

The Gaubatz Competition is comprised of both a written and an oral component. Competitors register in pairs, file an appellate brief, and argue in at least two oral rounds. The top sixteen, two-person teams go on to compete in a single-elimination, bracketed competition, which culminates in a final, evening round that is open to all competitors, students, professors, alumni, and the general public.

• Executive Board and Members

  Executive Board

  Baily Beauchamp, President bbeauchamp@miami.edu
  Matthew Shalna, Executive Vice-President mxs2972@miami.edu
  Bailey Pasho-Towns, Vice-President, Inter-School blp75@law.miami.edu
  Jacob Niergarth, Vice-President, Gaubatz Competition jniergarth@law.miami.edu
  Miguel E. Del Rivero, Vice-President, Alumni & Public Relations mdelrivero@law.miami.edu
  Mary Vollmar, Vice-President, Appellate Advoccy I mvv23@miami.edu
  Joshue Schulster, Vice-President, Appellate Advocacy II jws138@miami.edu
  Lauren O'Neil, Vice-President, CKP Competition laurenoneil@law.miami.edu

  Members

  Abigail Young axy284@law.miami.edu
  Andres Hidalgo axh732@miami.edu
  Bailey Beauchamp bbeauchamp@miami.edu
  Bailey Pasho-Towns blp75@law.miami.edu
  Benjamin Brooks bxb208@miami.edu
  Diego Rosette dxr937@law.miami.edu
  Erica Adams e.adams3@umiami.edu
  Evan Gilbert exg426@law.miami.edu
  Haneefah Saleem Hds53@miami.edu
  Isabella DelPino imd48@miami.edu
  Jaclyn Sanchez Jms573@miami.edu
  Jacob Niergarth Jniergarth@law.miami.edu
  Jessica Nunez Munoz jxn511@law.miami.edu
  Jessica Palma jessicapalma@law.miami.edu
  Joshua Schulster jws138@miami.edu
  Krystal McCollin k.mccollin@law.miami.edu
  Lauren O'Neil laurenoneil@law.miami.edu
  Mackenzie Payton Skeens mpskeens@law.miami.edu
  Mary Vollmar mvv23@miami.edu
  Matthew Shalna mxs2972@miami.edu
  Miguel E. Del Rivero mdelrivero@law.miami.edu
  Robert Keilson Rxk554@miami.edu
  Savannah Valentine ssv46@law.Miami.edu
  Sydney Alonso sydneyalonso@miami.edu
  Taylor Rich taylor.rich@law.miami.edu
  Ashley Knoblauch aknoblauch@law.miami.edu
  Alexis Masciarella alexis.masciarella@law.miami.edu
  Amanda Rosenberg abr74@miami.edu
  Austin Edwards austinedwards@miami.edu
  Bari Steel baristeel@law.miami.edu
  Brandon Shinder bes147@miami.edu
  Caleb Liberman cal240@law.miami.edu
  Cameron Gittler camerongittler@law.miami.edu
  Carly Herskowitz carlyherskowitz@law.miami.edu
  Destini Fernandez dmf147@miami.edu
  Ethan Arrington epa36@miami.edu
  Gabrielle Argimon gxa129@miami.edu
  Gabriella Pinzon gpinzon@law.miami.edu
  Gisell Landrian glandrian@law.miami.edu
  Grace Castillo gic29@miami.edu
  Joely Arai jla245@law.miami.edu
  Kelsey McCarty kelseymccarty@miami.edu
  Marina Rubio mxr2476@miami.edu
  Mitchell Koch mjk175@law.miami.edu
  Sarah Boger sarahboger@law.miami.edu
  Sierra Epke sierra.epke@law.miami.edu
  Taylor Evans taylorevans@law.miami.edu
  Thomas Armiger tarmiger@law.miami.edu
  William Brandyburg wbrandyburg@law.miami.edu
  Zachary Kaufman zdk10@miami.edu
  Zachary Sherman zes15@miami.edu
  Thomas Webb tcwebb@law.miami.edu

   

   

What We Do

Each year, the Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board sends its members across the nation to compete against top law schools in a variety of competitions. In the past years, members have competed in competitions against dozens of law schools across the nation.

• National Appellate Advocacy Competition

  The National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) is hosted by the American Bar Association’s Law Student Division each year. The ABA hosts six regional competitions across the nation, culminating in a national completion in Chicago in which the top four teams from each region compete.

   

• Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition

  The Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition is hosted by the St. John’s School of Law in conjunction with the American Bankruptcy Institute. The competition is the largest, single-site appellate moot court competition, drawing approximately sixty law school teams to New York City each year. 

• Cristol, Kahn, Paskay Circuit Bankruptcy Competition (CKP)

  The Cristol, Kahn, Paskay Circuit Bankruptcy Competition (CKP) serves as the regional pre-moot for the Duberstein National Bankruptcy Competition and attracts law schools from the Eleventh Circuit to compete. 

• Evan A. Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition

  The Evan A. Evans Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition is hosted by the University of Wisconsin Law School. 

• Iriving R. Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Court Competition

  The Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Court Competition takes place each year at Fordham University’s School of Law. Throughout the years, the Kaufman Competition has hosted several distinguished final-round judges, including Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Byron White, appellate judges, and commissioners of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 

• John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition

  The John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition is hosted each March by the Seton Hall University School of Law. 

• Civil Rights and Liberties Moot Court Competition

  The Civil Rights and Liberties Moot Court Competition is organized and run by Emory Law Moot Court Society in the Fall semester of each year. The competition rounds are judged by practitioners from the Atlanta community with a final round decided by federal judges and state supreme court justices.

• Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition

  The Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition is hosted by The Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar as a part of the Florida Bar Annual Convention in Boca Raton, Florida. Each year, the competition offers students the opportunity to tackle interesting and challenging issues in Florida and federal constitutional law. And because it is open only to law schools in the State of Florida, the Orseck Competition makes for an exciting bit of rivalry and comradery.

• National Moot Court Competition

  The New York City Bar hosts the National Moot Court Competition (NMCC), with regional competitions each November and final rounds each February. As one of the oldest moot court competitions in the county, the NMCC attracts teams from over 120 law schools throughout the United States.

• Burton D. Wechsler First Amendment Moot Court Competition

  The Burton D. Wechsler First Amendment Moot Court Competition is held annually at American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. The competition routinely draws federal appellate and district court judges as well as First Amendment scholars to judge competitors on their brief-writing and oral advocacy skills.

• Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition

  The Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition has been hosted by the Brooklyn Law School since 1985. The appellate moot court competition challenges students to engage in contemporary issues in evidence law.

• E. Earle Zehmer National Moot Court Competition

  The E. Earle Zehmer National Moot Court Competition is hosted by the Workers’ Compensation Institute as a part of its annual conference. Unique among moot court competitions, the Zehmer Competition focuses exclusively on workers’ compensation law. As a result, the competition rounds are scored by practitioners, commissioners, and judges with experience in that practice area.

• Hunton Andrews Kurth Moot Court National Championship Competition

  This National Championship Competition is an invitational competition designed to recognize a law school’s sustained excellence in moot court. A limited number of law schools qualify for the Championship by their results in moot court competitions in the previous academic year. 

• NYU Immigration Law Competition

  The NYU Immigration Law Competition focuses on issues of immigration law. 

• Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition (HNBA

  The Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition (HNBA) focuses on a case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

• Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Competition

  The Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Competition is the oldest national moot court competition in the United States. The Competition focuses on constitutional issues related to the First Amendment. 

• Tulane Mardi Gras Invitational Sports Law Competition

  The Tulane Mardi Gras Invitational Sports Law Competition focuses on contemporary legal problems confronting the sports industry.  

• Herbert Wechsler National Criminal Law Competition

  The Herbert Wechsler National Criminal Law Competition focuses on issues of substantive criminal law.  

• Robert F. Wagner Employment Law Competition

  The Robert F. Wagner Employment Law Competition is the nation’s largest student-run moot court competition.

• William B. Spong, Jr. Invitational Competition

  The William B. Spong, Jr. Invitational Competition focuses on issues of constitutional law.  

• Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition

  The Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition focuses on a current and developing federal issue. 

Other Ways to Get Involved

If you would like to volunteer to judge practice rounds, help prepare us for our national competitions, or otherwise support the Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board, email us at MootCourtBoard@law.miami.edu. To stay up to date, be sure to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.