Two students from The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law (Catholic Law) participated in the competitive D.C. Cup Moot Court Competition this month. Catholic Law’s Gerald Sharpe (2L) and Leah Roddenberry (2L) entered their appellate brief in January and competed in the initial and semi-final rounds on February 16 and 17. There, they defeated teams from across D.C., including American University, who was last year's competition champion.

Sharpe and Roddenberry then advanced to the championship round, marking the first time Catholic Law has made it to the final round of this competitive tournament. The final round took place in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the D.C. Court of Appeals downtown on February 23. The Judges included Judge Loren AliKhan, United States District Judge for the District of Columbia; Caroline Van Zile, Solicitor General of D.C.; and Charles Lowery, D.C. Bar President.

After a nail-biter final round, Catholic Law’s team placed second. Sharpe took home the individual “Best Oralist” award for the entire competition. Sharpe and Roddenberry would like to thank and acknowledge Professors Kamin, Squitieri, Walsh, and Rienzi, as well as Aliza Gray (3L), who served as the team’s coach, for their time refining the team’s legal arguments and oral advocacy skills.

The D.C. Cup is a moot court appellate advocacy competition hosted by the D.C. Bar Association between six D.C. law schools that confront topics of federal law and issues distinctive to the nation's capital, including the Home Rule Act and the D.C. Family and Medical Leave Act. The competition problem allows students to explore positions of split authority to promote spirited arguments on both sides, as well as arguments on policy justifications.