Moot court cadets land slots at national competition Published Dec. 7, 2015 By Staff Sgt. Veronica Ward U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Three Academy moot court teams competing in regional tournaments this fall will compete in the national championship of intercollegiate moot court, Jan. 15-16 at California State University, Long Beach, California. According to the American Collegiate Moot Court Association's website, nearly 380 teams competed in 10 national qualifying championships across the country this year. For the first time in the Academy's history, all six teams representing the Academy advanced to the Sweet 16 elimination rounds. Seven cadets earned individual orator awards, placing them among the top 20 advocates at their regional tournament, said David Fitzkee, an associate professor of law at the Academy and the team's coach. Cadet 1st Class Joseph Esswein and Cadet 2nd Class Colleen Slein won the South Texas Regional Tournament at Texas A&M University School of Law, Fort Worth, Texas. Cadets 1st Class Magdalena Torres and Kelley Kennedy finished sixth, within the top 20 percent, in the South Central Regional Tournament at Texas Tech School of Law, Lubbock, Texas. Cadets 1st Class Jeff Critchlow and Tarina Crook earned a bid to the national tournament. "Each year, the ACMA creates a fictional case problem, distributed as a judicial opinion by a fictional Circuit Court of Appeals and based on Constitutional law issues, that has been heard in federal courts of appeal but has not been decided by the Supreme Court," Fitzkee said. In the qualifying tournaments, a moot court team of two students argues one issue for 20 minutes and is questioned by moot court judges. There are three preliminary rounds of arguing in a tournament and qualifying teams advance to elimination rounds. "They judge the round based on knowledge of subject matter, response to questions, forensic skill,courtroom demeanor and organization, and logic and clarity of argument," Fitzkee said. Cadets in the Academy Moot Court Program are enrolled in the Topics in Constitutional Law and Appellate Advocacy course. "They spent the first part of the course mastering the approximately 20 unedited Supreme Court or Court of Appeals decisions," Fitzkee said. Cadets spend the second part of the course practicing their arguments in front of each other, law department faculty members, and guest judges. Visit www.acmamootcourt.org for more information.