Belmont’s College of Law National Health Law Moot Court Team competed against schools from all over the country at the National Health Law Moot Court Competition on Nov. 8 in Carbondale, Illinois. After six rounds of arguments, the team was named National Champions. Comprised of law students Courtney Lutz, Heath Henley and Ben Conrady and led by College of Law faculty member Amy Moore, the team also received commendation for a second place brief. A second team of students—Samantha Simpson, Jordan Kennamer and Parker Brown—made it to the competition’s top 16, the Octofinals, before being beat by their Belmont peers.  The Belmont teams were accompanied by Professor Jeffrey Usman and Sean Alexander, a 3L student member of the Board of Advocates and team assistant coach.

Participants in the National Health Law Moot Court Competition hailed from the following law schools:  Chicago-Kent College of Law, Drexel University School of Law, Faulkner University School of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, Hamline University School of Law, Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Notre Dame Law School, Nova Southeastern University, Saint Louis University School of Law, Seton Hall School of Law, South Texas College of Law, Suffolk University Law School, Texas Tech University School of Law, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, University of California-Hastings College of Law, University of Colorado, University of Maryland School of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, University of Tulsa College of Law and University of Washington School of Law.

“They [the students] faced a constant barrage of difficult questions from practicing attorneys and state and federal judges who were playing the role of the United States Supreme Court for these arguments. The questions required the team members to understand the administrative, disability, employment and healthcare law issues presented by the case with great sophistication and to be able to think on their feet,” Usman said. “Belmont Professor Amy Moore, the director of advocacy for the College of Law, had the students extremely well prepared, not only in terms of their oral advocacy skills, but also to represent themselves and Belmont with great civility.”

The competition, the only one in the nation devoted to health law, is co-sponsored by the Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Law Center for Health Law and Policy, the SIU School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Humanities, the American College of Legal Medicine and the American College of Legal Medicine Foundation.

Meanwhile, Belmont College of Law’s National Moot Team—comprised of Michael Holder, Travis Brown and Chandler Farmer—competed in Birmingham, Alabama and won both preliminary rounds of oral arguments against Samford University and the University of Alabama before missing the cut to the semi-final round.