Moot Court Honor Board
In conjunction with the law school faculty, local attorneys, and members of the Massachusetts Judiciary, the Moot Court Honor Board is run entirely by students, providing them the opportunity to develop and hone their advocacy skills prior to entering the legal community.
The Honor Board has two responsibilities: managing and organizing three intra-scholastic competitions and publishing the Suffolk Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy.
The competitions are carefully designed in order to create the most realistic experience possible. The Board relies upon members of the judiciary and prominent practitioners to serve as judges for every round of each competition.
The Suffolk Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy is published twice a year. It provides practical and in-depth analyses of current legal issues relating to trial and appellate practice. It is comprised of lead articles submitted by outside authors with expertise in their respective fields, and student-written Notes and Case Comments submitted by MCHB staff members. Journal members select a unique topic, research primary and secondary legal sources, analyze the legal issues facing the trial and appellate advocacy community, and write an original piece for publication.
Experience on the Honor Board helps you stand out from other law school graduates: writing and researching briefs and records for the intra-scholastic competitions on real-world issues like the kidnapping and murder of a 14-year-old girl; or if a drug search and seizure initiated by a woman’s ex-husband was malicious prosecution.
Members also assist in choosing and inviting judges and lawyers who make up competition judicial panels, and help organize the event and post-competition reception – giving students networking opportunities and experience organizing legal events.
Eligibility
All students who have finished their first year are eligible for membership. Students compete for openings on the board by participating in the annual Write-On competition, where topics are chosen from emerging issues in the courts.
Students who finish first in their section have an automatic bid to the board. Preference is also given to students who finish the top 25 percent of their section, or have gotten a Legal Practice Skills Program (LPS) award for best oral advocate or best brief. The final step for candidates is an interview by current Honor Board members.
Students typically spend their first year working on the Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy, and then run for positions on the editorial board in their second year.
Members
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Trevor Pilkington |
President |
| Dante Simeti |
Vice President |
| Brooke Bridges |
Editor-in-Chief |
| Matthew Fettig |
Chief Competition Director |
| Sean Reagan |
Executive Director of Appellate Competitions |
| Andrew DiDuca |
Executive Director of Trial Competitions |
| Abigal Walsh |
Managing Editor |
| Katelyn Glynn |
Executive Editor |
Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy
The Moot Court Honor Board publishes the Suffolk Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy twice each year. The Journal makes the Moot Court Honor Board unique because Board Members participate in managing competitions as well as producing a scholarly law journal.The Journal provides practical and in-depth analyses of current legal issues relating to trial and appellate practice. Similar to most law reviews, articles in the Journal support and perpetuate legal analysis among scholars. The Journal is unique, however, because of its practical value: discourse on current litigation issues naturally purveys a practical import for attorneys in daily practice. The Journal's scholarship thereby advances legal content while simultaneously helping the harried practitioner maintain a lexicon of recent decisions that could affect daily practice.
Please contact Brooke Bridges if you are interested in submitting an article or book review for possible publication. The editorial staff requests that the submissions be in law review format with detailed footnotes.
Explore past issues of The Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy at our Digital Commons site.
Student Staff Members
Working on the Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy gives you the opportunity for publication in a prestigious law journal, and shows potential employers that you have the researching, editing, and writing skills they’re looking for.
The Journal is used by attorneys throughout the country for in-depth analysis of trial and appellate issues in the courts today. As a staff member, you’ll edit, check citations and sources for articles and book reviews written by legal professionals around the nation, and contribute notes and case comments on topics ranging from cameras in the courtroom to circuit court splits on Federal Criminal Law interpretations.