Students Win National Moot Court Brief Writing Competition

 

Congratulations to second-year law students Alyssa Hawthorne and Zachary Zepeda, who won the championship in the 2024 National Tax Moot Court Brief Writing Competition! The briefs were submitted in January and were graded by a panel of tax experts. Hawthorne and Zepeda also participated in the 2024 National Tax Moot Court Oral Argument Competition at Stetson University College of Law, and Hawthorne was recognized as one of five oralists who earned a perfect score in a round at the competition. Zepeda was also highly praised by the judges for his oral argument. Both the Brief Writing Competition and Oral Argument Competition were sponsored by the Tax Section of The Florida Bar. "Alyssa and Zach’s achievements are all the more impressive because both of our champions are 2Ls with no prior moot court experience except for the spring 1L advocacy exercise," said Professor Steve Johnson, who coached the students. Participants in the two competitions included teams from law schools in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Judges included prominent tax and appellate attorneys, IRS chief counsel officials, and three judges of the United States Tax Court. Special thanks to Professor Johnson for coaching Hawthorne and Zepeda!