TALLAHASSEE — The Florida State University College of Law Moot Court Team has won the 2012 Charleston School of Law National Moot Court Competition. The competition was held February 3-4 in Charleston, South Carolina.

Winning team members are third-year law students Alexandra “Alex” Haddad, from Valparaiso, Florida, and Elliott Smith, from Lake Mary, Florida. They were coached by Judge James Wolf of the Florida First District Court of Appeal. Smith also was named Best Oralist for the competition’s final rounds.

"We are all very proud to be celebrating another first-place win by our Moot Court Team," said Dean Don Weidner. "This national victory continues a tradition of extraordinary success."

Florida State defeated 22 teams from 14 law schools, including Florida Coastal in the final round of competition and defending champion William & Mary in an earlier round. Other schools participating included DePaul University, Elon University, Mercer University, the University of Maine, the University of North Carolina and the University of South Carolina.

Competitors debated the constitutionality of whether installing a GPS device on a vehicle and monitoring it before stopping and searching the vehicle violated the search and seizure provisions of the Fourth Amendment. The fictional case was based on a case recently decided by the United States Supreme Court.

Florida State’s appellate and trial teams have both been successful. Since 2010, the Moot Court (appellate) Team has won first place in six national competitions and in one international competition. For two consecutive years, the Mock Trial Team has won first place in the Florida Justice Association’s E. Earle Zehmer Mock Trial Competition.