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Penn Law team named second best in the world at Jessup Moot Court competition

April 07, 2016

Penn Law's Jessup International Law Moot Court Team was awarded Second Best Team in the World.
Penn Law’s Jessup International Law Moot Court Team was awarded Second Best Team in the World.
Penn Law’s Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Team was awarded Second Best Team in the World, Best Team in the United States, and Best Respondent Side in the World.

This past week, Penn Law’s Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Team participated in the international rounds of the competition in Washington, D.C. and was awarded Second Best Team in the World, Best Team in the United States, and Best Respondent Side in the World.

The Jessup competition presents a dispute between two fictitious countries that raises pressing issues in international law. This year’s dispute, titled “The Frost Files,” concerned mass surveillance and cyber-attacks.

Over 550 teams from all over the world participated in the Jessup competition, and Penn Law defeated several traditional favorites, such as NYU, Columbia, and India’s National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, among others, to earn a place in the World Championship Round against Argentina’s Universidad de Buenos Aires.

Penn Law’s oralists argued the World Championship Round before judges from the International Court of Justice, hundreds of spectators in attendance, and thousands watching from around the world on livestream.

The team consisted of Bethan Jones L’16, Adria Moshe L’16, Alexander Bedrosyan L’16, Leo Park L’17, Camilla Ihenetu L’17, Laura Harrison L’18, and Tracy Corbett L’18, and was coached by Professor Bill Burke-White and lecturer Alka Pradhan.