Northeastern Law Team Triumphs at Regional ABA Moot Court Competition, Heads to National Competition

03.11.2025 –A team of second-year Northeastern Law students, including Kaitlyn Dehais ’26, Peter Fantozzi ’26 and Jackson Machesky ’26, is heading to the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition following a strong, top four placement at the New England regional competition held February 27–March 1, 2025. The national competition takes place April 3–5, 2025, at the federal courthouse in Chicago. The 2L team also received a Top Five Best Brief award and Cynthia Murphy ’25, a member of the 3L team, received a Top Ten Oralist award.

“The students' success was a testament to their tireless preparation as well as their poise under pressure,” said Professor Carol Mallory, who coached the team. “I also want to commend our 3L team, Anton Kernohan, Josephine Ban and Cynthia Murphy, who made a strong showing of their own, and whose mentoring of the 2L team was instrumental to its success.”

“We are extremely thankful and excited to be deemed Regional Champions and advance to the National ABA Moot Court Competition, ” said the team in joint statement. “A big thank you to Professor Mallory for stepping up as our coach for the year and for her wisdom and kindness, and to Anton Kernohan ’25, Cynthia Murphy ’25 and Josephine Ban ’25, for their invaluable coaching and expertise as we practiced this semester.”

The ABA Law Student Division National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) is a moot court competition that emphasizes the development of oral advocacy skills through a realistic appellate advocacy experience. Moot court competitors participate in a hypothetical appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The competition involves writing a brief as either respondent or petitioner and then arguing the case in front of the mock court.