News Archive

Two IU McKinney teams competed in the Boston Regional Tournament of the 2020 ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition March 5 through 7. One team consisted of 3L Arqeil Shaw, 3L Michael Sherman, and 2L Addison Zielinski. The other team consisted of 3L Eddie Abel, 2L Rachel Bir, and 2L Michael Lakes.

The team of Shaw, Sherman, and Zielinski went 1–2 during the preliminary rounds. Though they did not qualify for the knockout rounds, they won praise from the judges for their confidence, poise, bench presence, and knowledge of the law and the record.

The team of Abel, Bir, and Lakes went an undefeated 4–0 during the preliminary and knockout rounds, which qualified them for the regional championship round. In that round, they narrowly lost to an excellent University of Houston team. Like their IU McKinney colleagues, the team won praise from the judges for their outstanding advocacy skills. Further, Eddie Abel won individual honors as the seventh-best oral advocate in the region.

The ABA NAAC is the largest moot court competition in the U.S., with 152 teams from across the country taking part this year. The regional rounds in which the McKinney teams competed took place at the Edward W. Brooke Municipal Courthouse in Boston.

Many thanks are owed to the teams’ student coach, 3L Janet Wheeler, for her dedication in preparing the teams. Professor Jim Dimitri, who is stepping down from his post as faculty advisor to the Moot Court Society after 20 years, served as the teams’ faculty coach and advisor. Thanks are also owed to Professors Lahny Silva, Frank Sullivan, and Jon Warner for their invaluable advice to the teams.

In the front row from left are Arqeil Shaw, Michael Sherman, Addison Zielinski, Michael Lakes, and Janet Wheeler. In the back row from left are Eddie Abel and Rachel Bir.