TALLAHASSEE — The Florida State University College of Law Moot Court Team won first place in the 2012 Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Court Competition over the weekend. The competition was held March 23-25 at Fordham Law School in New York, New York.

Winning team members are third-year law student Ashley DiNunzio, from Cleveland, Ohio, and second-year law students Brenden Soucy, from Simsbury, Connecticut, and James VanLandingham, from Tallahassee, Florida. They were coached by College of Law Professor Kelli Alces and Professor Emeritus Barbara Banoff.

Twenty-eight teams from 25 law schools participated in the competition, including Duke University, Emory University, Georgetown University, New York University, University of California - Davis and the University of Wisconsin. The final round judges included Commissioner Troy A. Paredes, of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and judges from five United States Circuit Courts of Appeals.

"This victory also reflects the strength of our business program," said Dean Don Weidner. "It also marks a year of extraordinary successes in competitions."

This is the fifth national or international championship of the 2011-12 academic year. The team also won first place in the World Finals of the 2011 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Charleston School of Law National Moot Court Competition in Charleston, South Carolina, in the George Washington Religious Freedom Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C., and in the Domenick L. Gabrielli National Family Law Competition in Albany, New York.