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2009 Herman Competition Winners Announced

March 9, 2009

Contact: Rob Phillips, (614) 247-6520

Three Moritz 2Ls outshined their peers to receive top honors in the 18th Annual Herman Competition held at the Moritz College of Law. Jessica Guard was named best overall, while Zachery Keller was honored with writing the “best brief,” and Alexander Darr was commended for delivering the best oral argument.

Sixty-one second-year students participated in the annual appellate advocacy competition. Judges of the Herman competition included Justice Maureen O'Connor and Justice Paul Pfeifer of the Ohio Supreme Court; Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray; Judge Gary Tyack of the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals; Judge Judy French and Judge William Klatt of the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals; Brandon Lester, clerk to Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Supreme Court of Ohio; and Magistrate Tim Halridstad of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

This year's case was Flores-Figueroa v. U.S. and Mendoza-Gonzales v. U.S., which dealt with identity theft. The case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 25. G

uard is from Willoughby, Ohio, and received her bachelor’s degree from New York University. Darr, of Port Clinton, Ohio, attended Mount Union College as an undergraduate. Keller is from Norwich, N.Y., and is a graduate of Valparaiso University.

The Herman Moot Court Competition is named after Professor Emeritus Lawrence Herman. As a moot court coach, Prof. Herman's teams won two national championships and a host of "best brief" and "best oralist" honors. In 1992 the annual moot court competition was renamed the "Herman Moot Court Competition" in honor of his many contributions.

Today the Herman Moot Court Competition is Moritz's annual appellate advocacy competition. The competition serves as a selection process for placement on the College’s moot court traveling teams through the writing of a brief and participation in oral arguments.

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