Brandeis Law moot court teams make impressive showing in competition

Two teams representing the Brandeis School of Law advanced to the quarterfinal round at the Region 4 National Moot Court Competition held in Richmond, Virginia, on November 18-19.

This was the first time in at least the last two decades that both Brandeis teams in the competition had advanced to the quarterfinals, and Brandeis was the only school in the region to get both its teams to the elimination round.

Third-year student Andy Hagerman and second-year student Rick Whetstone made it to quarterfinals by defeating teams from the University of Kentucky and William & Mary in the preliminary rounds on Friday. Their quarterfinal against Washington & Lee ended in an exact tie, and they were knocked out on the basis of the tournament’s tie-breaking rules. After having made the semi-finals last year, Hagerman finished up as only the second Brandeis student to reach the competition’s elimination rounds two straight years.

The second Brandeis team was made up of Daniel Graham, a third-year, and his partner, Josh Stearns, a second-year. They earned their spot in the quarterfinals with a win over another UK team, and then a win against North Carolina. In the quarterfinals, they faced George Mason University, and lost a close round, with the judges calling the oral argument by only a single point.

This year marked the sixth consecutive year a Brandeis team advanced to at least the regional quarterfinal round, a feat matched in the region only by Wake Forest University.