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Robert M. Harper Helps Lead Hofstra Law Team to Regional Championship at National Moot Court Competition

December 01, 2011

Robert M. Harper is a trusts and estates associate at Farrell Fritz, an Adjunct Instructor at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law and is a 2007 graduate of the School. He assisted Professor Frank Gulino in coaching the team.

Team to Compete for National Title in Early 2012

Hofstra Law School, Hempstead, N.Y. — A team of students from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University was named Regional Champion at the Region II Rounds of the 62nd Annual National Moot Court Competition on November 16-17.

After competing in the final round against a team from Seton Hall University School of Law, 3Ls Melissa Danowski, Jesse Goldberg and Jessica Miller were named Best Team for Region II. Hofstra Law’s team also swept the other top honors in the Region II competition: Best Brief, Best Individual Oralist (Danowski) and Second-Place Best Individual Oralist (Goldberg).

Professor Frank Gulino, director of student advocacy programs, selected the team and trained the students in appellate brief craft and oral advocacy. Assisted by Hofstra Law adjunct faculty members Grant Shehigian ’07 and Robert Harper ’07, Gulino coached the team through each round of the competition against teams from other New York-area law schools.

“Our moot court team’s success in the regional competition is a remarkable achievement, and it demonstrates their impressive abilities,” said Dean Nora V. Demleitner. “We are very proud to see their hard work pay off, and we wish them luck as they prepare for the national rounds early next year.”

The National Moot Court Competition is the oldest, largest and most prestigious moot court competition in the United States. This year’s competition focused on two legal issues: first, whether a school district’s punishment of a student’s off-campus, Internet-based speech violated the student’s First Amendment right of free speech under the Supreme Court’s Tinker standard and, second, whether an adverse inference instruction may properly be issued by a district court for the merely negligent spoliation of evidence.

Co-sponsored by the New York City Bar Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers, the competition includes more than 180 teams from law schools around the country who compete regionally each November. As Region II Champions, the Hofstra Law team will advance to the National Final Rounds held January 30-February 2 in the landmark House of the New York City Bar Association.

The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University prepares passionate students to make an impact in their communities and beyond. Accredited by the American Bar Association and ranked in the top 100 law schools nationwide, Hofstra Law is located on the campus of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The Law School offers both full-time and part-time Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree programs as well as Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree programs in American Legal Studies (for foreign law graduates) and Family Law.

Reprinted with permission from Kristen McMahon, Director of Public Relations, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University.

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