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Notre Dame College’s student legal advocacy team has won its first bid to the American Moot Court Association (AMCA) National Championship Tournament.

Katherine Esser, a junior biology major, and Jordan Mochko, a senior communication and public relations double major, will represent the College at the 2020 AMCA national qualifying championship Friday, January 17, and Saturday, January 18, at Southern University Law Center, Baton Rouge, La. The pair earned their place among the top 80 moot court teams in the country with a fifth place finish in the Rubber City Regional at University of Akron College of Law in November.

Moot court is a method of teaching law and advocacy skills by requiring students to analyze and argue both sides of a hypothetical legal issue using state and federal appellate court procedures. The top four to six pairs, dependent on a national ranking system, from each of the regional qualifying tournaments earn a place in nationals each year.

The Notre Dame College team will face opponents at nationals ranging from Yale University to Duke University, University of Chicago, Michigan State University, University of Southern California and the Canadian national champion St. Thomas University of Ontario, among others. Esser and Mochko competed against Yale and Michigan State at regionals. There are 32 schools represented from across the U.S. and Canada in the championship tournament.

The AMCA is the largest intercollegiate moot court organization in the United States. A total of 487 competed in qualifying tournaments this year. Students litigate against an opposing student team and before a panel of career judges, attorneys, law professors and legal experts. The pairs are evaluated based on jurisprudence of legal precedent, knowledge of case law, and oratorical presentations skills.

The simulated AMCA case the students present this year looks at whether a fictional defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated by obtaining cellphone records without a warrant and whether the Sixth Amendment right to confront an accuser was violated by the introduction of hearsay declarations. The hypothetical legal action concerns sexually explicit material on the mobile device.

Established in 2011, Notre Dame’s co-curricular prelaw moot court program qualified for national invitational competitions in four of its first seven years of existence. That consolation tournament has been discontinued.

In addition to Esser and Mochko, the following students comprise Notre Dame’s 2019-2020 Moot Court program: Jordan Benson, Rico Blackman, Dennis Bunch, Antonio Delgado, Athena Eli, Athene Goodman, Alexis Nelson, Remik Niewiarowski, Katie Petro, Paige Staudacher, Alyssa Soltis, Lukas Thompson and Breanna Tolbert.

December 2019

About Notre Dame College

For almost a century, Notre Dame College has educated a diverse population in the liberal arts for personal, professional and global responsibility. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1922, the College has grown strategically to keep pace with the rapidly changing needs of students and the dramatic changes in higher education. But it has never lost sight of its emphasis on teaching students not only how to make a good living but also how to live a good life.

Today, the College offers bachelor’s degrees in 30 disciplines plus a variety of master’s degrees, certification programs and continuing and professional development programs for adult learners on campus and online. Notre Dame College offers NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletic programs for men and women and is located in a picturesque residential neighborhood just 25 minutes from the heart of Cleveland. Hallmarks of the Notre Dame experience include stimulating academics, personalized attention of dedicated faculty and staff, and small class sizes.

Notre Dame College is located at 4545 College Road in South Euclid. For further information contact Brian Johnston, chief communications officer, at 216.373.5252 or bjohnston@ndc.edu.