 March 18, 2009
CONTACT
David N. Hefner
Director of Communications and Marketing
Walter F. George School of Law
Mercer University
478.301.5000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mercer Law School remains dominant in premier moot court competition
MACON, Ga. – For the fifth time in six years, the corporate law moot court team at Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law advanced to the championship round of the Vale Corporate Competition in Wilmington, Del., the premier corporate moot court competition in the United States.
Measured by mastery in brief writing and oral advocacy, the Mercer Law School team outperformed teams from 22 other law schools, including Emory, Florida State, Wake Forest, Brooklyn, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Tulane, Oregon and Miami.
In the final round, Mercer faced Ohio State University Law School, arguing a fictitious case concerning a derivative suit and potential breach of duties with regards to corporate oversight. In an extraordinarily tight split decision, a five-judge panel – three Delaware Supreme Court justices, a Delaware chancery court judge, and a New York district court judge – awarded the championship to the Ohio State team. Notwithstanding, in a stunning example of excellence, Mercer’s impressive showing marks the fifth time in six years that a Mercer team was a Top 2 finalist in the intensely competitive, highly regarded national Vale competition.
The competition, held March 12-15, was sponsored by Widener Law School in Wilmington. The Mercer Law team included second-year law students Brittany Flowe, Jessica Morgan and Katie Willett. The coaches were student Laura Hinson and Professor Chris Wells.
“This experience has taught me that teamwork is essential, and the work product is tremendously enhanced when you have several minds contributing to an effort,” Flowe said.
“Our success is a result of the dedication and encouragement of our two amazing coaches, the advice of many faculty and moot court board members, and lots of hard work. The practice really paid off.”
Professor Wells, who has coached Mercer’s Vale team for the last several years, attributed the team’s success to the sound training students receive at Mercer Law School.
“Despite this disappointment and their exhaustion after four days of intense competition, we were all proud to represent Mercer Law School and demonstrate, once again, the quality of the country’s No. 1 ranked legal writing program,” said Wells, referring to Mercer Law School’s No. 1 ranked legal writing program according to the 2009 U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of graduate programs.
About Mercer Law School
The Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law is ranked among the Top 100 law schools in the United States, and its legal writing program is ranked No. 1 in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 ranking of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” The law school’s public interest law program was recently ranked No. 6 in the nation by preLaw Magazine. Founded in 1873, Mercer Law School is among the oldest in the nation. Its innovative Woodruff Curriculum – which focuses on ethics and practical skills amid small class sizes – earned the Gambrell Professionalism Award from the American Bar Association for its “depth of excellence.” With a total enrollment of about 400 students, taught by some of the sharpest legal minds in the country, Mercer Law School is recognized as one of the nation’s best. For more information about Mercer Law School, visit our Web site at www.law.mercer.edu or call 478.301.5000.
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