internal Competitions

Copeland, Cook, Taylor, and Bush Appellate Advocacy Competition

The Mississippi College School of Law Moot Court Board annually hosts the Copeland, Cook, Taylor, and Bush Appellate Advocacy Tournament.  The tournament is comprised of second-year MC Law students seeking membership to the Board.  After writing a brief as part of the law school’s Appellate Advocacy course, competitors participate in two rounds of oral arguments which are judged by three-person panels that include local judges, practitioners, faculty, and Board members.  The competitors then receive a final score based upon a combination of their brief score and the scores from their two rounds of arguments.  The top sixteen competitors advance to a seeded, bracket-style tournament which culminates in semifinal and final rounds.  The final round takes place at the Mississippi Supreme Court before a five-person panel which often includes multiple Federal Judges and Mississippi Supreme Court Justices.

In the Fall of 2008, a record number of 103 students competed in the Sixteenth Annual Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush Appellate Advocacy Competition.  Competitors who advanced to the Octofinal rounds were Erin Brown, Krissy Casey, Nick Crawford, John Dollarhide, Lee Hill, Matt Jackson, Christopher Meredith, Ryan Revere, Taylor Polk, Alicia Scherini, Morgan Smith, Gene Taylor, Gary Thompson, Michael Traylor, Kyle White and Sarah Beth Wilson.  Quarterfinalists were Erin Brown, Nick Crawford, Lee Hill, Taylor Polk, Gene Taylor, Michael Traylor, Kyle White and Sarah Beth Wilson.  Semifinalists were Nick Crawford, Lee Hill, Taylor Polk, and Sarah Beth Wilson.

On November 6, 2008, Lee Hill and Sarah Beth Wilson competed in the final round held in the Mississippi Supreme Court Ceremonial Courtroom.  The round was judged by Judge Sharion Aycock, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi; Justice Bill Waller, Mississippi Supreme Court; Justice Jess Dickinson, Mississippi Supreme Court; Ray McNamara, of Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush; and Bill Leech, also of Copeland, Cook.  Lee Hill was the overall winner of the competition.  Awards were presented at the annual Moot Court Luncheon, which was held at the University Club in Jackson, MS.

Award Winners:

Overall Winner: Lee Hill
Finalist: Sarah Beth Wilson
Best Oralist: Lee Hill
Best On-Brief Oralist: Morgan Smith
Best Off-Brief Oralist: Ryan Revere
Best Brief: Sarah Beth Wilson
Best Appellant Brief: Matt Jackson
Best Appellee Brief: Taylor Polk
Outstanding Faculty Support; Most Rounds Judged: Professor J. Gordon Christy
Outstanding Faculty Support: Professor N. Shelton Hand Jr.
Outstanding Faculty Support: Professor Meta S. Copeland

Justice Jess Dickinson and Mark Bryant presenting Lee Hill with the award for Overall Winner.	Justice Jess Dickinson and Mark Bryant presenting Sarah Beth Wilson with the award for Finalist.
Dean Rosenblatt and Mark Bryant presenting Lee Hill with the award for Best Oralist.	Justice Jess Dickinson and Mark Bryant presenting Morgan Smith with the award for Best On-Brief Oralist.
Justice Jess Dickinson and Mark Bryant presenting Ryan Revere with the award for Best Off-Brief Oralist.	Dean Rosenblatt and Mark Bryant presenting Sarah Beth Wilson with the award for Best Brief.
Dean Rosenblatt and Mark Bryant presenting Matt Jackson with the award for Best Appellant Brief.	Dean Rosenblatt and Mark Bryant presenting Taylor Polk with the award for Best Appellee Brief.

Click here to view final arguments from previous years.