ASU's new Moot Court team to compete in national tournament

Jan. 11, 2008 -- Arkansas State University’s Moot Court team will compete in the 2008 American Collegiate Moot Court Association National Tournament, to be held at Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday-Saturday, Jan. 18-19. The team members attending the national tournament are Friedric Tarkington of Jonesboro and Abram Skarda of Des Arc.

The team attended its first tournament, the Southeastern Undergraduate Moot Court Tournament at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga., only weeks after its founding, and ended with a fifth-place ranking out of seven teams. The Savannah tournament was one of six regional qualifiers leading to the championship tournament. Competing teams included the reigning national champions from Armstrong Atlantic State University, Patrick Henry College (a team that has produced the two previous national champions), the College of the Holy Cross, the University of Louisville, and Lyon College.

Dr. Hans Hacker, assistant professor of political science, is the ASU Moot Court team coach, and he says, “I am extremely proud of them. They all made good arguments and earned the respect of the other teams. This team worked harder, longer, and smarter than any team I have ever coached.”

The team received funding and support from the Office of Academic Affairs and Research, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Department of Political Science.

A moot court competition is based upon the presentation of a fictitious case to an appellate court. Pairs of students argue using the rules of the U.S. Supreme Court. The pairs are required to present both sides of the case, arguing for the petitioner in one round and arguing for the respondent in the next round. Moot court simulations, long a tool for teaching law and advocacy skills in American law schools, teach students to conduct legal research, write legal arguments, and present those arguments to a court while being questioned by the justices. Currently, a network of teams from all regions of the country competes for a single national championship each year.

For more information on ASU’s Moot Court team, contact Dr. Hans J. Hacker, assistant professor of Political Science, pre-law advisor, co-director of the Pre-Law Center, at (870) 972-2257, via e-mail at hhacker@astate.edu, or visit ASU’s Department of Political Science on the Web at http://polsci.astate.edu/.
Hans J. Hacker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science, Pre-Law Advisor, Co-director Pre-

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