Two Minnesota Law Teams Compete in the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) in Boston, One Team Advances to Quarterfinals

The ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) is one of the largest, and most challenging, moot court competitions in the country. Two teams from the Law School competed in the Boston Regional in February. Both teams performed admirably and one team progressed to the quarterfinal round at the regional competition. That is the first advancement for the Law School since 2018. 

Three second-year students comprised the team that advanced. Alex Screaton, 2L, who is also participating in the 2022 Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court Tournament. Hayley Steele, 2L, and Steven Vogel, 2L, are both serving as legal writing instructors this year. 

The petitioner team performed admirably. Julia Brady, 3L, was a semi-finalist in the 2021 Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court. Sean Cortney, 3L, and Sam Meshbesher, 3L, are also veterans of Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court.

The team is coached by two Law School alums. Chad Pennington ‘15 is a Deputy Federal Defender, Central District of California, and was also a member of the ABA competition team at the Law School. Kyle Kroll ‘16 is an associate attorney at Winthrop & Weinstine, and previously taught legal writing at the Law School. 

Pennington said “our students worked extremely hard in drafting polished briefs and through ten oral argument practices. Both teams earned high individual oral argument scores and showed incredible teamwork and poise throughout the competition.”