Minnesota Law Team Advances in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the world’s largest moot court competition. Due to their strong performance, the Law School’s team moved on to the advanced rounds for the first time since 2018. The team had a stellar 4th place ranking for their briefs. As a result of the opposing team’s chosen side, 3Ls Sarani Millican and Laura Burns argued at the advanced rounds. 

2L Kenneth Cooper, had the opportunity to argue at the competition, and did an excellent job according to both the team’s coaches and team members. Cooper had the highest average oral argument score on the team. 

All of the third-year members of the team participated in a moot court or a moot court competition team in their 2L year. Shimin Zhong, 3L, is a veteran of Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court. Katie Smith, 3L, participated in the 2021 Maynard Pirsig Honors Tournament, as a result of excellent oral advocacy in Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court. Laura Burns, 3L, participated in 2020-21 Indian Law Moot Court. Sarani Millican, 3L, competed in the 2021 Emory Moot Court Competition, and is also a veteran of Civil Rights Civil Liberties Moot Court. 

The team is coached by three Law School alums who also participated in the Jessup Competition. Anne Sexton ‘12 is the Director of Public Interest Programs at the Law School. Kelsey Kelley ‘13 is an Assistant County Attorney for Anoka County. Becky Bradish ‘20 recently served as a Steele County Public Defender.

Reflecting on this year’s team, Sexton said “This year's Jessup team consistently supported one another inside and outside of the courtroom. As coaches, we were impressed with their commitment to personally improve each step of the way.”