Jessup Competition Team Members Named

By Izaak Schwaiger (Class of 2009)

Congratulations to the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition ("Jessup Cup") team members for the UW College of Law: Kristen Barton, Jason Mundy, Jen Kemp, Anthony Gibbs and Sarah Bandy!

The Jessup team was selected from 19 students who auditioned. The selection process involved presenting a ten minute oral argument before a panel of judges based on a problem involving international custody rights of children displaced by a natural disaster. Each individual had only 24 hours to prepare from the time each person received the problem until the student's scheduled argument took place - a noteworthy attestation to their high skills in oral advocacy, legal analysis, and courtroom improvisation.

The Jessup Cup is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious public international law moot court competition. Over 500 teams from almost 100 countries register for the competition each year. This is only the second time in Wyoming's history that a team of students from the UW College of Law has assembled to tackle what is largely considered one of the most challenging moot court competitions in the world. The large number of competitors this year shows an increasing recognition among students of the importance of an international perspective to their legal education.

These five students will spend the next months in preparation for the Regional Jessup rounds, to be held in a location to be determined in the northwest region of the United States. International rounds will be held in Washington D.C. in spring 2008. This year's Jessup Cup team has been generously sponsored by the Joseph F. Maier Beyond the Classroom Fund, and the Wyoming Society for International Law.