U of A Law Team Advances to National Moot Court Quarterfinals

Photo courtesy: Clay Sapp

The Arkansas team during the National Online Moot Court Competition.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas School of Law second-year law students Taylor Spillers, Brian Thomas and Madison Miller qualified for the quarterfinals in the National Online Moot Court Competition. Thomas was also selected as a Top 10 Oral Advocate for the competition based on the average of his score throughout the competition. The competition took place from Jan. 13-20 via Zoom where 50 teams competed from 31 schools.

The Arkansas team won all four preliminary rounds and advanced to the knock-out rounds. These were against teams from St. Mary's University School of Law, Chapman University Fowler School of Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law, and the University of Florida College of Law. 

The Arkansas team was also the overall winner of the octofinal rounds where it competed against Baylor Law School team. In the quarterfinal round, the Arkansas team was the runner-up team to Cal Western School of Law students. In the octofinal and quarterfinal rounds, the Arkansas team argued both for the petitioner and the respondent in back-to-back arguments.

"It was a fantastic experience," visiting assistant professor of law, Clay Sapp, said. "We are thrilled to have a National Quarterfinalist team this year."

The Competition Problem

The students were selected based on their legal writing and oral advocacy skills. The applicant pool was large, and the decision was made in September. Spillers and Thomas were oral advocates, and Miller was the team's brief writer.

Immediately after their selection, the three law students were presented the competition problem and asked to begin preparing their written and oral argument for the Supreme Court of the United States. The students were specifically asked to argue whether a federal appellate court has the authority to raise the issue of qualified immunity sua sponte, or on its own accord, and whether a prison inmate's Eighth Amendment rights were violated when he was placed in administrative segregation.