News

A Duke Law student team advanced to the semifinals of the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, one of the nation’s largest and longest-running advocacy contests.

Maia Foster ’23, Emma Shahabi ’24, and Melissa Skarjune ’24 were one of only nine teams to make it to the semifinal round, arguing a complex case involving the application of federal environmental law and a state constitution's environmental rights amendment to remediation of a contaminated aquifer.

A total of 52 teams entered the 35th annual competition, hosted by Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law and held virtually this year Feb. 22-25.

“It was an incredibly tough problem this year, with steep competition, and the team made an excellent showing,” said Clinical Professor and Environmental Law and Policy Clinic Co-Director Michelle Nowlin JD/MA ’92, who coached the team with Senior Lecturing Fellow Stephen E. Roady ’76.

Last year was the first time Duke Law students entered the competition. Foster also was part of that team, which made it to the final round.

"It was an honor representing Duke Law for the second time," Foster said. "Each year, I feel like I emerge with stronger writing and oral advocacy skills and a better understanding of current issues in environmental law."

Preparation for the moot is especially demanding. Environmental litigation often involves multiple parties, and during preliminary rounds student teams had to argue the positions of all three in the hypothetical matter: BELCO, a company said to be responsible for contaminating an aquifer; Fartown Association for Water Safety, an environmental justice community group claiming harm; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. During the quarterfinals the Duke Law team was assigned to represent the EPA’s position, and in the semifinal round the team represented BELCO.

Skarjune said the team spent two months during the fall semester drafting a 35-page brief for BELCO and met weekly to practice oral arguments on behalf of each of the three parties.

“I am especially grateful for both Professor Nowlin’s and Professor Roady’s commitment to helping us moot before the competition,” Skarjune said. “We competed against several great teams, and I think the judges were just as excited about the competition as the competitors were.”

Added Shahabi “It was truly such a great experience to work with federal environmental statutes that I will likely encounter during my career. The time spent writing our brief helped sharpen our environmental research and writing skills while also extending our familiarity with the interplay between federal statutes, agency regulation, and court deference. The oral arguments were invaluable practice in appellate work, and while we certainly experienced some hot benches from even the very first round, our team held its own and answered with poise.”

In addition to advancing to the semifinals, Foster, Shahabi, and Skarjune were recognized for submitting the best brief out of all submitted on behalf of BELCO.

“It was excellent – very well-written, tightly organized, easy to understand, and quite persuasive,” said Roady, who also holds appointments as a professor of marine science and conservation at the Nicholas School of the Environment and a faculty fellow in the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability. “It’s no surprise that it won best brief.”

Foster, Shahabi, and Skarjune all are planning careers in environmental law.