George Mason School of Law Victors in
Prince Evidence Moot Court Competition

The George Mason University School of Law team carried the day in the championship round of Brooklyn Law School’s Eighteenth Annual Jerome Prince Evidence Competition.

The final contest was held on Saturday, April 5 at 5:00 p.m. in the Moot Court Room before Hon. Carlos F. Lucero of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Hon. Julia Smith Gibbons of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and Hon. Randall T. Shepard of the Indiana Supreme Court. George Mason team members Erin Karsman and Hope Hamilton, coached by Chase Karsman, prevailed over the second-place team from the University of Georgia. Thirty-four law school teams (PDF) came from all over the U.S. to compete in the three-day premier national moot court competition.

The fictional case on appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court involved the conviction of a former supermodel turned CEO on securities fraud and obstruction of justice charges. The evidentiary issues in the case are (1) whether the grand jury testimony of key witness who now suffers from amnesia is admissible, (2) whether statements made during previous settlement negotiations are admissible, and (3) whether a statement made by the United States attorney at a social event is admissible.

There was a new and intriguing twist in the presentation of this case in this year’s competition. The student Moot Court Coordinators not only created a completely fictitious defendant, Sophina Ray, and her company, Sophina, but her fashion world as well. They mailed out magazine articles ostensibly written about the phases of the lawsuit and promotional displays of Sophina’s line of fashion products to the participating teams before the competition began. Actual samples of the beauty products will be distributed to the participating teams during the competition. Read more about the SoFine products, the status of the case, and the meteoric rise and startling fall of Sophina.

The Moot Court competition honors the late Jerome Prince, renowned evidence scholar and author of Prince on Evidence, who served as dean of Brooklyn Law School from 1953-1971.