PUBLISHED:April 11, 2011

Duke Law Moot Court team wins ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition

Ben Baucom '11, Karen Beach '11, and Catherine Lawson '12 won the national championship round of the American Bar Association's National Appellate Advocacy Competition over the weekend. They placed first among the 207 competing teams, bringing home the first Duke Law victory in the annual moot court tournament.

Baucom, Duke’s Moot Court Board co-chair, was named second best oral advocate in the tournament. Lawson was named seventh best advocate.

Undefeated in their regional competition, Baucom, Beach, and Lawson also went undefeated in Chicago where they faced six other teams. The five judges presiding over the Chicago arguments selected them as champions by a unanimous vote.

Two Duke Law teams competed in the championship rounds in Chicago on April 9 and 10. The team of Grayson Lambert '12, Leah Shen '11, and Nels Vulin '12 were eliminated by a narrow margin in the round of 16.

Alumni coach Stephen Rawson ’10, who co-chaired the Moot Court Board as a 3L, helped prepare both Duke Law teams for their strong showings at the regional and national levels.