In the world’s largest moot court competition, the Penn Carey Law team put in a strong performance, with one set of memorials tying for third in the entire competition.
With participants from roughly 700 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions, the Jessup International Moot Court competition is the world’s largest.
Every eligible school around the world is allowed to enter one student team. To reach the White & Case International Rounds, the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School team — oralists Ravid Reif L’22, Peter Neal L’22, Axel Sarkissian L’23, and Noor Irshaidat L’23, as well as Board Members Paul-Angelo dell’Isola L’24 and Alara Hanci L’24 and student coach Ryan Cheung LLM’22 — first had to navigate the competition on the National level.
The simulation used for this competition is a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice. The team must prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case.
While the countries may be imagined, the 2022 Jessup Problem combined complex real-world challenges, such as human rights on the Internet, data theft, secession of national territory, and foreign election interference.
Eighty-five teams from the United States competed for the opportunity to move on to the International Rounds; only the top 16 would advance. Penn Carey Law’s team did so by reaching the quarterfinal round in the U.S. Regionals, with a final ranking in the top 12.
The International Rounds consisted of over 160 teams from top law schools around the world. From this global field in the Preliminary Round, the Penn Carey Law team moved into the Advanced Round, where it faced teams from India, Belgium, Egypt, Georgia, and the United States, finishing 38th overall.
In the Preliminary Round, the Penn Carey Law oralists were standouts, with every competitor on the team ranked in the top 50. Noor Irshaidat took 9th place in the global field, with a score of 91.8.
The Penn Carey Law team was awarded an Alona E. Evans Award, given to top scoring memorials at the White & Case International Rounds. The team also tied for 3rd place in the category “Best Respondent Memorials at the International Rounds.”
“[The competition] was an incredible opportunity to further develop my writing and oral advocacy skills,” said Irshaidat. “I enjoyed learning more about various international law topics/issues and working with the team to come up with the best strategies to deal with novel arguments from our international counterparts.”
Learn more about Penn Carey Law’s opportunities for student leadership.