Stetson University College of Law’s moot court team argued in the final round of the 2019 Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition before the justices of the Florida Supreme Court, and the justices awarded law student Chris Pate with the Best Oralist in the Final Round. This year’s competition was held during the 2019 Annual Florida Bar Convention at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Florida, on June 28.

“Moot court competitions, like all advocacy competitions, give students an opportunity to practice and hone the skills they will need to practice law,” said Brooke J. Bowman, J.D., moot court board director and professor of law at Stetson Law. “Awards, such as these, show Stetson’s commitment to training practice-ready attorneys and demonstrate why Stetson has been number one in advocacy for so many years.” Professor Bowman coached this year’s Orseck team.

Third-year Stetson Law students and Moot Court Board members Chris Lawson and Pate had an opportunity to argue a fictitious case in front of attorneys, civil and county judges and Florida’s District Courts of Appeal judges during the competition.

The final round of the Robert Orseck Memorial Moot Court Competition has been judged by Florida Supreme Court justices for a number of years. Stetson Law students have advanced to the final round 15 times since 2000 and Pate is the fourth moot court team member to win the award for the Best Oralist in the Final Round.

-Sandra Carr