The 50th Annual Roger J.
Traynor Appellate Moot Court Competition took place at John F. Kennedy
University College of Law on April 6 and 7, 2019. The Traynor is a nationally
recognized appellate competition for California law schools. The hallmarks of
the competition are the use of an actual case from the California Court of
Appeal, equal emphasis on brief writing and oral argument, and judging by
appellate practitioners, trial judges, and justices of the appellate courts.
This year’s problem
involved the question of whether police may obtain a warrantless blood sample
from an unconscious suspect. The issue posed is currently pending before
the California Supreme Court and was argued on April 23 in the United States
Supreme Court.
Ten teams from law schools
throughout California submitted briefs and faced off in oral arguments on the
first day of the event. The two teams with the best combined scores from briefs
and oral arguments competed in the final round. This year’s final consisted of
Empire College of Law against U.C. Berkeley. Justice Ignacio Ruvolo (Ret.),
Justice Alison Tucher, and Judge Helen Williams presided over the final round
and chose Berkeley as this year’s winner of the Roger J. Traynor Award.
Other awards included Best
Brief, U.C. Berkeley (with Empire in second place), Excellence in Appellate
Advocacy, U.C. Berkeley (with Empire in second place), and Best Individual
Oralist Chantelle Stewart of Trinity Law School. Individual Merit Awards for
oral argument also went to Emily Pincin of Loyola Law School, Samantha
Williamson of San Joaquin College of Law, Bryan Delgado of McGeorge School of
Law, and Eric Smith of Empire.
In 2018, it was announced
that previous long-term corporate sponsorship of the Traynor was ending and it
appeared that the 49th Traynor was doomed to be the last. With the help of
attorney David Glassman and the hospitality and support of Dean Barbieri and
the JFK College of Law, attorney Miriam Billington stepped in as administrator
to ensure that “Traynor 50” would not only succeed but mark the start of a new
half-century of this respected tradition.
Costs were kept low but the
event cannot run on registration fees alone. This year, the entrance fee was
$200, less than half of the typical registration cost for a comparable moot
court competition. Several donors pledged their support and more are sought—if
you, your firm, or company would like to underwrite any aspect of Traynor 2020,
or have one of the awards named for you, please contact info@traynormoot.org.
Teams are encouraged to
indicate interest in competing in next year’s Traynor by July 1. Enrollment is
limited so contact Miriam Billington at info@traynormoot.org as soon as
possible to reserve a spot.
Pictured at the 2019 Traynor after Sunday's final argument on April 7 at JFK Law School in Pleasant Hill.
Back row: Judges for the final round were Hon. Helen E. Williams, Justice Alison M. Tucher, and Justice Igancio J. Ruvolo (Ret.)
Front row: Empire Law School's team (Natalie Albanna, Eric Smith, and Richard Horrell), took second place in the final;
Chantelle Stewart of Trinity Law School was named Best Oralist,
and the team from UC Berkeley, comprised of Sebastien Wadier and Jenna Zhang, won the final argument, taking the 2019 Traynor Award.
Photo Credit: Ben Glassman
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