A team of Campbell Law student advocates will compete at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Pacific Regional Moot Court Competition on Feb. 28 – March 2 in Portland, Oregon. The team includes third-year students Derek Dittmar and Melanie Huffines and second-year student Destiney Parker-Thompson. The team is coached by Campbell Law Professor Shawn Fields.
Last year, Campbell Law was awarded the fourth Best Brief in the Southern Region and Dittmar was recognized as the 19th Best Oralist in the competition.
“Jessup has been an incredible experience,” Dittmar explained. “It has shown me how to do in-depth and obscure research quickly. I have learned how to critically examine foreign legal schemes, adapt to brand new procedural and precedential schemes, and to trust in my own research, writing, and advocacy skills. I never thought I’d spend months of my life researching the law surrounding nuclear weapons, oceanic navigation, traditional knowledge, and environmental law. But I am so thankful for the opportunity.”
In its 60th year, the Jessup Competition is the world’s largest moot court competition, with participants from more than 700 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions. The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. One team is allowed to participate from every eligible school. Teams prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case.