Howard Payne University’s Moot Court team competed at the Rocky Mountain Moot Court Invitational at Colorado Christian University in Denver on October 16-18. Sophomore Rylie Burden, of Nederland, won top speaker at the competition. She and her partner senior Katelyn Turner, of Katy, advanced to the top 16. 

The team was comprised of Turner; Burden; Brock Horton, junior from Fort Worth; and Adriaan Lafferty, freshman from Elgin. HPU’s Moot Court team is sponsored by Kenan Boland, assistant professor of government.

“At this tournament, I was given the opportunity to engage in conversation with leaders in the field of law,” said Burden. “Moot Court provides the unique opportunity to learn about argumentation and advocacy through case law and professional expertise. From this experience, I garnered newfound perspectives on the judicial system, fundamentally shaping my path here at Howard Payne and likely my future career endeavors.”

Moot Court is modeled after appellate law. Students are given a scenario and two constitutional issues to explore, as well as specific Supreme Court cases – consisting of over 1000 pages of case law – to use in developing their argument. There are two person teams who must argue both sides of an issue while also answering questions directly from the judges in the round.

“For students wanting to go to law school, Moot Court is a great way to begin developing skills that will be needed,” said Boland. “I tell the students all the time, in Moot Court, we don’t just argue cases – we learn to defend ideas.”

The organization in charge of these tournaments is the American Moot Court Association. Their stated purpose according to their website, is “to create practical opportunities for college students to engage with case law, hone legal reasoning and the application of law to facts, develop and communicate their own legal arguments before a panel of judges subject to time constraints, answer questions about the arguments they present, and demonstrate appropriate courtroom demeanor and forensic skill.” 

“I am exceedingly proud of the HPU Moot Court team,” said Boland. “These competitions are tough. Students must be prepared to answer questions while also maintaining professionalism and forensic skills. Watching these students compete is just impressive.”

HPU’s Moot Court team will travel to Akron, Ohio on November 7 for their regional competition. 

For more information about HPU, visit www.hputx.edu.