Cal State Long Beach political science majors Ryan Chapman and Yasmin Manners won the Texas State undergraduate moot court championship tournament held at the University of North Texas on March 30 and 31.
Moot court, also known as a mock Supreme Court and Supreme Court simulation, is the simulation of an appellate court proceeding. The participating teams consisted of two individuals who argue a hypothetical legal case known as the competition case.
Students are questioned by moot court judges and are graded on the basis of their knowledge of the case, their responses to questioning, their forensic skills and demeanor.
“Moot court’s a very challenging program because it’s not only testing a person’s intellectual and speaking ability, but that person’s level of confidence,” Manners said.
CSULB’s moot court is ranked as the third best program in the nation.
The program has produced almost too many lawyers to count, moot court Director Lewis Ringel said. It has yet to produce a judge because it is not old enough, but Ringel said he believes that day will likely come.
Ringel said he is pleased with his team’s performance in Texas.
“It was sensational,” he said. “I am very proud of [Chapman and Manners]. But I was not surprised. They always handle themselves well, and they did what I thought they would do when I paired them back in November. They won. In fact, they won a lot – all seven rounds. They went undefeated.”
Chapman agreed that the experience in Texas was great, but that it could, at times, be exhausting.
“In hindsight, it’s great that we got to go out there and represent both California and CSULB and show a large group of students, professors and professionals that our school has a program that can win,” Chapman said.
Chapman and Manners, both juniors, are aiming to become the second CSULB team to win a regional and/or national championship and plan on returning to Texas next year to defend their title.
Wyatt Lyles, a senior political science major, competed in the Western Regional in moot court last fall.
“The most challenging thing for moot court is all the preparation prior to tournaments,” Lyles said. “We have about 20 cases in the record of the moot court problem that we have to know the ins and outs of.”
Other CSULB moot court accomplishments include being national champions in 2003 and reaching the national Sweet Sixteen in 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2012.