Three Georgia State Law students, Yasmin Assar (J.D. ’18), Nathan Chong (J.D. ’18) and Matt Sessions (J.D. ’17) advanced to the octofinal round in the National Health Law Moot Court Competition Nov. 4-5 in Carbondale, Illinois. Assar beat out members of 29 other teams to win awards for Best Preliminary Oralist and Best Overall Oralist.
“I was completely shocked when my name was called as winning best oralist,” Assar said. “When I heard my name I think my jaw literally dropped to the floor.”
The competition problem dealt with a constitutional rights violation in the criminal context, Assar said. The teams submitted a brief at the end of September and then attended the competition for oral arguments. Teams had to argue for both the petitioner and respondent during the preliminary round.
To prepare for the competition, members of the team co-wrote the brief and spent around a month preparing for the oral argument portion.
“We divided the problem up by issues on certiorari. Our student coach, Matt Sessions, set up tentative schedule for completing research and drafts and we wrote our individual portions then combined them to compile the brief,” Chong said. “We then edited it to make sure it read as a single voice.”
Other members of moot court acted as judges, asking questions and providing feedback. “The help from other moot court members really gave us a chance to think about issues we may not have considered. Their feedback was indispensable in our preparation for the completion,” Assar said.
Though there was not a faculty coach for the competition, Jennifer Chiovaro (J.D. ’85), senior principal lecturer, assisted with the written portion of the completion.
“Professor Chiovaro was a huge help for brief drafting,” Chong said. Additionally, Sessions provided advice and feedback throughout the whole process.
After advancing to the octofinal round, the team was knocked out by the number one seeded team at the competition, The Barksdale Warriors.