Boston University School of Law 2025 Homer Albers Prize Moot Court Competition Finals Hosts a Special Panel of Judges
On April 10, 2025, Boston University School of Law held the 82nd annual Homer Albers Prize Moot Court Competition final argument in the Schell-O’Connor Courtroom. Students Bilal Mubarak (’26) and Drew Siegenthaler (’26) represented Petitioner against Haewon Lee (’26) and Eli O’Neal (’26) for Respondent, with Michael Brune (’25) and Katerina Zukis (’25) serving as directors of the competition. Preetham Chippada (’25), Henry Drembus (’25), and Michael Gorman (’25)—members of the current BU Law National Moot Court team and BU Law’s first-ever champions of the 75th Annual National Moot Court Competition—served as preceptors.
The two teams in the finals argued in front of a unique (in several ways) panel of judges. Instead of the typical three judges, this year’s finalists faced, for the first time ever at BU Law, a panel of five judges. And, not just any five judges—five federal judges with a special connection to each other and with the dean. Presiding over the 2025 Albers Finals were the Honorable Solomon Oliver, Jr., Senior District Judge and former Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, plus four of his former judicial law clerks, all of whom currently serve in the federal judiciary: the Honorable Jennifer Armstrong, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio; the Honorable Jessica Clarke, U.S. District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; the Honorable Carmen Henderson, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio; and the Honorable Lindsay Jenkins, U.S. District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
For Judge Oliver, presiding over the end of the 2025 competition involved a return to BU Law since he had previously served on the panel of judges for the 2015 Albers Moot Court Competition Finals. The 2025 finals, however, offered a special moment of pride for him. Indeed, the event was so momentous that Judge Oliver’s wife, Louisa, and his longtime judicial assistant, Bettye Rhinehart, traveled to see it all in action. Not only were the other judges on this panel his former law clerks, so was BU Law Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig. Throughout the arguments, Judge Oliver beamed with pride at the “hot bench” filled with his former-clerk mentees. He later quipped, “I could hardly get a word in.”
In regard to this year’s panel of jurists, Dean Onwuachi-Willig shared, “Their presence in presiding over the finals was very meaningful to me because all of the judges are a part of my clerkship family, a family that begins with not only an exceptional jurist, but also an amazing human being, teacher, mentor, and friend, Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr.—one of the two judges whom I had the honor of clerking for and the very first judge whom I clerked for.” She continued, “It is a testament to the strength of this competition, our brilliant BU Law students, and our phenomenal law school that these five respected jurists were willing to adjudicate the final round of the Albers competition.”
After arguments from both the Petitioners and Respondents, the panel of judges awarded the Homer Albers Prize (Best Team) to Mubarack and Siegenthaler, with Mubarack receiving the G. Joseph Tauro Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy as well. Jen Taylor McCloskey, executive director of advocacy and legal skills programs, gave out awards for the best briefs presented throughout the entire competition. The Robert Volk Best Brief Award for Petitioner went to Lee and O’Neal, and the Robert Volk Best Brief Award for Respondent was awarded to Mubarack and Siegenthaler.
The judges also offered high praise for the four finalists, all current 2Ls. Before the judges announced the team that won the Albers Finals, Judge Oliver told the competitors: “We were very impressed.” He further joked, “You could skip your third year and go right into practice.”
The student competitors of this decades-long tradition represent just four of the 16 quarterfinalists who participated in the Albers Moot Court Competition—which began over two months ago with the release of the problem created by Brune and Zukis—and were selected from the top performers in last fall’s Edward Stone Moot Court Competition. Earlier rounds of the Albers Competition, which consists of four rounds—the preliminary, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals—were judged by alumni and local attorneys (preliminary); members of the BU Law faculty (quarterfinals); and Professors Brian Wilson and Shira Diner and jurists from the Massachusetts Appeals Court, including Associate Justice John Englander (’83), Associate Justice Chauncey B. Wood (’94), Associate Justice Andrew M. D’Angelo, and Associate Justice Joseph M. Ditkoff (semifinals).
“The students were thrilled to have the opportunity to argue before such a distinguished panel of jurists and grateful to the Dean for organizing their attendance at the final argument,” said McCloskey. “The judges really pressed the students on the weaknesses in each side of the case, but the students were able to navigate those challenging questions and move their arguments forward. Their calm under pressure is a testament to the many hours of practice and argument they put in before the final.”
The arguments were followed by a reception and awards ceremony in the Charles River Room to honor the Albers competitors and this year’s Moot Court teams and boards.