2Ls Simon Earle and Dominik Ruch Compete in Final Round of the Maynard Pirsig Moot Court Honors Tournament

Simon Earle, 2L, and Dominik Ruch, 2L, argued before Justice G. Barry Anderson '79, Justice Natalie Hudson '82, and Justice Gordon Moore of the Minnesota Supreme Court, in the final round of the Maynard Pirsig Moot Court Honors Tournament. Simon Earle, won a closely contested argument, with both students receiving tremendous praise for their skills. Earle called the tournament β€œan amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Ruch had a similar reaction, calling it β€œ[the] coolest thing I could have imagined for my time in law school.”

The tournament (named in honor of the former Law School Dean Maynard Pirsig) is the culmination of the Law School’s flagship Moot Court Course - Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court. Students are nominated for the tournament based on their oral advocacy skills in the year-long course. Prior to the final round, the four semi-finalists argued at the Minnesota Court of Appeals. In the preliminary rounds of the tournament, more than forty attorneys judged the advocates. Previous winners of the tournament include one current judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals, along with one of the adjunct instructors.Β 

The course also holds a β€œbest brief” tournament at the end of the year, with 2L Kayla Haeg winning best brief, and 2L Lukios Stefan winning 2nd place. The top two oralists and top two brief writers received automatic spots on a moot court competition team of their choosing. This year’s problem involved First Amendment rights to record the police at a protest outside a school board meeting.

The course problem is written by Professor Randall Ryder (β€˜09), who teaches the class with a team of adjuncts - many of whom are both Law School and moot court alums. Student instructors are paired with each instructor to assist with classroom instruction and provide feedback on each assignment.Β 

β€œThe course allows every student the opportunity to significantly develop their advocacy skill sets,” said Ryder. β€œThe course always appeals to students interested in litigation, but it also unlocks that interest in other students.” Most importantly, by the end of the year β€œstudents’ advocacy skills are on par with practicing attorneys that appear at the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals.” 

Congratulations, Simon and Dominik!

Randall Ryder ’09
Assistant Professor of Appellate Advocacy
Director of Moot Court Program
Director of Law in Practice