Impressive showing by MCSOL at the National Moot Court Regional Competition in Nashville, Tennessee

Competing for the first time since the late 1990s, Mississippi College School of Law (MCSOL) advanced to the Semifinals and won the Best Brief Award at the National Moot Court Regional Competition November 15th and 16th, 2007, at Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee. Katrina Dannheim and Amos Maley represented MCSOL at the competition, with Linda Cooper contributing to the composition of the award-winning brief. Dannheim and Maley defeated teams from the University of Mississippi and the University of Alabama Schools of Law, and came within one victory of advancing to the competition's final argument.

"I've seen many teams compete in many moot court competitions and Katrina, Amos, and Linda are as talented as any," said team coach and MCSOL Professor Matthew Steffey. "Their brief ranked first in the region, and Katrina and Amos turned in the two finest oral arguments I saw at the regional rounds in Nashville. We are fortunate to have students with this blend of character, work ethic, and talent represent the law school."

Dannheim, Maley and Cooper began preparing for the competition in September. Dannheim and Maley advanced to the quarterfinals of the Duberstein Memorial National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition last spring, but Dannheim believes this competition was more challenging than anything she has experienced before.

"This was definitely the hardest competition in which I have been involved," said Dannheim. "I was amazed with the talent possessed by our competitors." Dannheim attributed her team's success to the support provided by the greater MCSOL community, as well as her coach and teammates. "I am especially grateful for the willingness of our faculty and MC alumni to give of their time to help us prepare to go to Nashville, and a special thanks to Matt Steffey for being an awesome coach."

Steffey believes the achievements of Dannheim, Maley and Cooper make them well qualified to enter the legal profession. "I'm proud of their efforts and achievements, and would be happy to have any one of them as my lawyer," Steffey said.

Dannheim, Maley and Cooper will graduate from MCSOL next May. MCSOL's external competition teams are supervised by MCSOL's Director of Advocacy and Moot Court Board Advisor Victoria Lowery.