April 2, 2007

Chris Brackett, Tracie Dorfman & Melissa Ratcliff

BU Law Moot Court Team Reigns Supreme in D.C.

The BU Law Sutherland Cup Moot Court team was victorious at this year’s Catholic University-sponsored competition. The event, held in Washington D.C. from March 9 to 10, saw competitors from eight different universities including Georgetown University, the University of Virginia and Ohio State University. The Boston University team is comprised of three third-year Law students: Tracie Dorfman, Chris Brackett and Melissa Ratcliff.

After several months of preparation—including research, practicing oral arguments and composing written arguments—the team finally presented their brief to a panel of judges from the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits and from the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

In the three-round tournament, competitors argued on and off-brief while being individually evaluated by three legal practitioners. To ensure the BU team was up to the task, the three teammates, who have all had moot court experience in previous years, practiced scenarios with coaches Elisabeth Smith and Professor Robert Volk.

The team was excited to argue their brief—which stated that an initial warrantless search violated the 4th amendment and also dealt with the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule—but “doing well, especially when going up against such quality opponents, [was] definitely a plus,” said Brackett in an e-mail.

Having never before won the Sutherland Cup, the BU team went into the competition as the underdog. “I expected our team to do well and move on to the semi-finals, but I did not
expect a win,” said Ratcliff.

Her teammate Dorfman added, “Arriving at the competition, I think we were somewhat viewed as outsiders. Ohio State had won the year before and UVA had done well in the past.” However, all the team’s hard work paid off in their final round against the University of Virginia. “We were proud to put BU's name on that cup!”

The Sutherland Cup—an appellate advocacy competition focusing on constitutional law—is the oldest national moot court competition in the United States. The team’s championship in this prestigious event is no small feat. “This experience is invaluable toward any litigation I might do in my future career,” said Ratcliff.

Reported by Elizabeth Ress