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Historic Win at Florida High School Moot Court Competition

Historic Win at Florida High School Moot Court Competition

Historic Win at Florida High School Moot Court Competition

Four students from American Heritage Schools, Broward Campus, took home the top awards, both championship and runner-up, at the Florida Bar High School Appellate Brief Writing & Moot Court Competition, where Heritage had the three teams standing by the tournament’s end. Heritage teams swept the entire competition and all of the awards!

Juniors Taeyoung Kim and Charlotte Wu were magnificent in this competition! They were recognized as the competition finalists, winning the Best Brief Award. In addition, Charlotte Wu won Best Oralist in the Final Round, and Taeyoung Kim was presented with the Best Oralist Award for the preliminary round.

The State Champion team of this year’s Appellate Brief Writing and Moot Court Competition were sophomores Matthew Rodriquez and Jacob Zeng. 

The Moot Court team was judged the best in Florida by four Florida Supreme Court Justices in the final round and presented $1,000 scholarships by the Appellate Practice Section of The Florida Bar.

Of 25 briefs submitted statewide, only 10 were chosen and 3 were from American Heritage Schools, Broward Campus. Once chosen, the three teams of two students each traveled to Tallahassee to argue before the First District Court of Appeal (1st DCA) justices in Tallahassee. After the preliminary rounds, the top two teams advance to the Florida Supreme Court. 

Teams that advanced to the First District Court of Appeal (1st DCA):

- Taeyoung Kim & Charlotte Wu 

- Matthew Rodriguez & Jake Zeng

- Aditya Sharma & Nithisha Makesh

Teams that advance to the Florida Supreme Court:

- Taeyoung Kim (Best Oralist Preliminary Round) & Charlotte Wu (Best Oralist Final Round), Runner-up Team, Best Brief Award Team ) 

- Matthew Rodriguez & Jake Zeng, State Champion Team

Attorney Coaches:

Attorney: Laura Burkhalter, Lead Coach
Attorney: Ajay Alexander, Assistant Coach
Attorney: Cynthia Sahn, Assistant Coach
Directed by Nikki Ippolito Laurie-Van Allen

The two-part program offered a unique opportunity to learn about the appellate process and what it is like to present a case in a true-to-life court experience. Students write appellate briefs on specific legal issues. In order to advance, the law-related section of the Florida Bar and the appellate section of the Florida Bar review these briefs. 

About Florida Bar High School Appellate Brief Writing & Moot Court Competition

The Florida High School Appellate Brief Writing and Moot Court Competition program is designed to provide students the opportunity to learn critical thinking skills, legal reasoning, analysis, and professionalism, in addition to the structure and function of the courts and legal process.