Chen ’23 and Gaylord ’23 Awarded Best Brief at Northeastern Regional Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition

03.25.22 — Rachael Chen ’23 and Henry Gaylord ’23 were awarded the best brief at the 2021 Northeastern Regional Thomas Tang Moot Court competition, held virtually on October 29, 2021. Chen and Gaylord joined teammates Sara Conroy ’23 and Mia Lin ’22 in representing Northeastern Law at the event, which was sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA).

The 2021 competition involved two complicated questions concerning voting rights law and gerrymandering. The first involved whether the plaintiffs, comprised of two minority groups, may be combined to satisfy the Supreme Court’s test in Thornburg v. Gingles and constitute a majority for a vote dilution claim under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The second concerned the question of whether the plaintiffs’ challenge to a redistricting plan reflected partisan gerrymandering that would present a non-justiciable issue under Rucho v. Common Cause.

“It was an incredible learning opportunity to write a full appellate brief and argue in front of multiple panels of judges. This experience honed our writing and advocacy skills, and it was particularly meaningful because the case concerned very relevant and timely topics: voting rights, gerrymandering and racial discrimination,” said Chen and Gaylord in a joint statement. “Hands-on, experiential learning opportunities like this are the reason we both came to Northeastern. We would like to thank our coach, Professor Hahn-DuPont, for her guidance throughout the entire process, including many late nights. We would also like to highlight our teammates Mia Lin and Sara Conroy, who collaboratively tackled understanding this complex area of law with us and brilliantly argued the opposing side, which helped to discover holes in our arguments and strengthen our brief. We are also grateful to all those who helped us prepare for oral arguments, and NAPABA for hosting the competition.”