A team from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Law has won the Giles Sutherland Rich moot court national championship in Washington, D.C.
Composed of third level law student Josh Lee and second level law student Stephen Adams, the team won by a split decision over American University. The team won the Houston Regional to advance to the national finals, where the winners and runners-up from each of the four regions competed.
In the national competition, Lee and Stephens defeated a team from Akron University, which had placed second in the Midwestern Regional, in the quarterfinal round and then a strong team from the University of California-Davis, first in the West, in the semifinal round.
In the final round, the team had a unique opportunity to argue its case before Judges Alan D. Lourie, Alvin A. Schall, and Timothy B. Dyk of the Federal Circuit.
Judge Lourie asked Lee if a case he had cited was still good law in light of a later Supreme Court decision, and noted that he was particularly interested in the answer because he had written the opinion Lee had cited.
“Please join me in congratulating national champions Josh and Stephen for bringing the championship to the University of Tennessee College of Law,” said Gary Pulsinelli, team co-coach and professor in the college. “And thank you to all those who helped out by judging practice rounds, and also to my co-coach, Ken Hoffmeister.”
In its 37th year, the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial moot court competition is hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and looks at problems in intellectual property law. The competition is named for a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit who was the most distinguished jurist in the field of patent law in the world.