Posted November 29th, 2012 in Top Stories

Nilan Johnson Lewis Sponsors Moot Court Competition

For a trial lawyer, any opportunity to “hold court” has its appeal.  But when that opportunity involves giving back to future professionals, it’s all the more rewarding.

On October 27, Nilan Johnson Lewis sponsored the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project Moot Court Competition for public high-schoolers at William Mitchell College of Law.  Named after former U.S. Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan and empowering law school students to teach social studies lessons, such as Constitutional rights and responsibilities, the program is implemented throughout the globe.  William Mitchell is the only law school to offer the program in Minnesota and is among an exclusive group of 11 to offer the program in the U.S., joining the likes of Yale Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

A sponsor for the second straight year, Nilan Johnson Lewis funded both the full-day experience as well as future travel expenses for two winning high school students to take their newfound skills to April’s national finals in Washington D.C.

Current William Mitchell students served as teachers for the moot court, which explored the free speech dilemmas surrounding a pretend high school student’s suspension after she posted a criticism of the principal on the school’s online message board. The high-schoolers participating in the moot court were the true beneficiaries, however, because they got to sample the legal profession for a day and put their advocacy skills to the test through three rounds of critiqued, formal arguments.

Oliver Ewanowski of the Avalon School and Central High School’s Ursula Simmer were named winners of the competition, but the participating legal practitioners and Mitchell faculty universally commended all students for their contributions.