December 12, 2008

2008 Tang Moot Court Participants

Alex Hood ('10) and Ling Wu Kong ('10) Compete in National Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition

From November 20-23, Alex Hood (’10) and Ling Wu Kong (’10) competed in the National Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition hosted by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Hood and Kong qualified for the national competition in Seattle Washington after placing in the top three teams during the regional competition in New Haven, Connecticut in October.

This year, BU Law sent four teams to the regional competition. During the regional competition, Hood and Ling's team was the only from BU to place, and their score qualified them to continue to the national competition.

Although Hood and Kong did not place in the national competition, both were enthusiastic about their experience. “I'm very glad I chose to participate,” said Hood. “It forced me to take and defend positions that I didn't necessarily agree with, and doing so definitely helped my analytical and oral advocacy skills.”

During the regional competition in New Haven, the teams argued a case concerning the special administrative measures applied to limit a prisoner’s communication and whether these limitations violate Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.

Front: Ling Wu Kong Back, L-R: Cameron Westcott (team coach) and Alex Hood

“This is a great competition that allows law students, especially Asian pacific Americans, to practice their oral advocacy skills,” said Kong. “I think practice and experience is key here, and even over the course of the competition itself I felt we were getting better as a team.”

Kong and Hood began preparing for the competition over the summer, with the bulk of their work occurring in the month before the competition. Each team was required to submit a brief prior to the competition. During the regional competition, teams argued for the position they took in their brief, and then against it during the “off-brief” round.

“I felt we held our own and incorporated many of the things we learned at the regional competition,” said Kong. “Both Alex and I received praise for being poised and persuasive.”

During two rounds of competition in Seattle, Kong and Hood argued against teams from Nova Southeastern and then against the University of Washington, the team that had the competitor who took the prize for best oralist.

“I am disappointed that we did not win,” said Kong. “But, we noted that the winners this year were 3L's who competed in last year's competition as well. Thus, come next year I'm sure Alex and I will discuss competing again, especially as the finals and the NAPABA conference will occur in Boston next year.”

To learn more about the Thomas Tang International Moot Court Competition visit the NAPABA Web site.

Reported by Christine Lindberg