The Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals at Yale

The Morris Tyler Moot Court competition takes place each semester at Yale Law School, culminating in the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize Finals in the fall and the Thurman Arnold Prize Finals in the spring. All second- and third-year law students are eligible and encouraged to participate.

The Spring 2008 Thurman Arnold Prize finals were held on May 5, 2008, at 4:30 p.m. in the Levinson Auditorium before the Honorable Marsha Berzon (9th Circuit Court of Appeals), the Honorable Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals) and the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor (2d Circuit Court of Appeals). The Petitioners were Raj Laud ('08) and Abbas Ravjani ('09) (brief), and the Respondents were Sumon Dantiki ('09) and Joshua Johnson ('09) (brief). The case was Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker (poster).

The Potter Stewart Prize for best overall written and oral argument went to the Respondents, Sumon Dantiki and Joshua Johnson, and the Thurman Arnold Prize for best oralist was awarded to Joshua Johnson.

The 2007 Harlon Stone Fiske Prize Finals were held on Monday, December 10 at 4:30 in the Levinson Auditorium. The finalists were Michael Krouse ('08) and Enrique Schaerer ('08), Petitioners (brief) versus Zac Hudson ('09) and Gabriel Rauterberg ('09), Respondents (brief). The case will is Medellin v. Texas. The decision below can be found at 2006 WL 3302639 (see the poster here). This case presented the following questions:

The Potter Stewart Prize for best overall written and oral argument went to the Petitioners Michael Krouse and Enrique Schaerer, and Michael Krouse was awarded the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize for best oralist.

The Spring 2007 Thurman Arnold Prize finals were held on May 7, 2007, before Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Circuit Judges Rosemary Barkett (11th Cir.), and Rosemary S. Pooler (2nd Cir.). The case was Rahmani v. United States, addressing whether the government may, consistent with the First Amendment, prosecute persons for supporting groups it has determined to be terrorist organizations without allowing them to dispute those determinations. Anna Manasco Dionne ’08 and Krishanti Vignarajah ’08 (brief) represented the petitioner; Bryan Caforio ’08 and Jon Donenberg ’08 (brief) argued for the respondent.

The judges awarded the Potter Stewart Prize for best overall team to the Petitioners and the Thurman Arnold Prize for best oralist to Anna Manasco Dionne and Krishanti Vignarajah.

Watch a video of the oral argument.

The Fall 2006 Harlan Fiske Stone Prize finals were held on December 11, 2006, before a panel of Circuit Judges William A. Fletcher (9th Cir.), Diana Gribbon Motz (4th Cir.), and Jeffrey S. Sutton (6th Cir.). The case was Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, addressing whether the EPA Administrator has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, and whether the Administrator may decline to issue emissions regulations for motor vehicles based on non-statutory policy considerations. Justin Cox ’08 and Richard Re ’08 (brief) represented the petitioner; Eric Citron ’07 and John Hughes ’08 (brief) argued for the respondent. The judges awarded the Potter Stewart Prize for best overall team to Respondents and the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize for best oralist to Justin Cox. The judges, finalists, and board are pictured below (click to enlarge):

The Spring 2006 Thurman Arnold Prize finals were held May 1, 2006, before a panel of Circuit Judge Raymond C. Fisher (9th Cir.), Senior Circuit Judge Laurence H. Silberman (D.C. Cir.), and New York Court of Appeals Associate Judge George Bundy Smith ’62. The case was Moises Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, addressing whether and how the Vienna Convention’s provisions for consular rights should be enforced in U.S. Courts. Arguing for the petitioners were Murad Hussain ’07 and Julia Martinez ’07 (brief). The respondents were represented by Ian Bassin ’06 and Anisha Dasgupta ’06 (brief). The judges awarded the Potter Stewart Prize for best overall team to the Petitioners and the Thurman Arnold Prize for best oralist to Anisha Dasgupta. The traditional group photo is below:

On December 12, 2005, the Morris Tyler Moot Court welcomed an esteemed four-judge panel of Circuit Judges Merrick Garland (D.C. Cir.) and Karen Nelson Moore (6th Cir.), Senior Circuit Judge Jon Newman ’56 (2d Cir.), and Senior District Judge Louis Pollak ’48 (E.D. Pa.). They heard arguments in Rumsfeld v. FAIR, awarding the Potter Stewart Prize for best overall team to Petitioners Brandon Fail ’06 and Jaynie Randall ’06 (brief) and splitting the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize for best oralist between Respondents Aron Ketchel ’06 and Michael Pinkel ’07 (brief). The judges, finalists, and board are pictured below (click to enlarge):

On April 22, 2005, the case of Bradshaw v. Stumpf was argued for the Thurman Arnold Prize. The distinguished panel of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Circuit Judges Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.) and Carlos Lucero (10th Cir.) is pictured below with Dean Harold Koh, the board, and the finalists: Ariel Lavinbuk ’06 and Brian Netter ’06, for the petitioner; and Melissa Miksch ’06 and Rob Yablon ’06, for the respondent:

For inquiries about the Morris Tyler Moot Court, please contact:

joshua.johnson@yale.edu