On February 19, 2024, a Maryland Carey Law’s Duberstein Moot Court Team earned First Place in the 2024 American College of Bankruptcy Fourth Circuit Moot Court competition held at the Prettyman Courthouse in Washington D.C. The event is co-sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute. The competition requires knowledge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code as well as appellate advocacy skills. The annual regional competition provides a unique experience to appear before a mix of bankruptcy and district court judges who preside over the moot court competition.
Nine teams competed in the regional competition representing schools across the Fourth Circuit: The George Washington University Law School, Howard University School of Law, Brooklyn Law School, Campbell University, Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University, Georgetown University Law Center, Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law along with two Maryland Carey teams.
Spending December preparing a brief for the National Duberstein Moot Court Competition held at St. John’s University in March, the students spend their winter break researching and writing. Once the brief is submitted, the students hold practice rounds on weekends with the assistance of volunteer judges from around the country gaining feedback on how to develop their oral arguments. The ACB Fourth Circuit Regional Competition is a lead-up to the National Competition held in March. The team is coached by retired Judge Robert Gordon ’72, attorney Bud Tayman, and faculty Heather Terech.
With their second appearance in the finals of the ACB Moot competition for a second year, the winning team of Michael Gaskell ’24 and Megan Young ’24 was well deserved. Competing against Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University students, the judges awarded Maryland Carey first place. “It is a joy to watch them, in a real courthouse behind a real podium with real judges, and they killed it,” Coach Gordon commented. Michael Gaskell was awarded Best Oralist in the competition as well. Upon graduation, Young will be clerking for the Honorable Melanie Shaw of the Maryland Appellate Court and Gaskell will be clerking for Chief Judge Laurie Silverstein of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court. He will join Kirkland & Ellis as an associate subsequently.
The Maryland Duberstein Moot Court Team includes members Kate Strauch ’25, and Dean Marvastian ’25 as well. Strauch and Marvastian also competed with strong performances at the regional competition. Their overall contribution throughout the preparation was collectively valuable. Staunch and Marvastian will be leading the team next year.
Young and Gaskell also competed in the Duberstein National Competition at St. John’s University in New York against forty-nine other law schools on March 2-3. In each round, they earned favorable, positive feedback from the panels of judges. Complemented for their poise and thinking on their feet, Gaskell and Young advanced to the Octo-Final Rounds which involved the top sixteen scoring teams. Both earned praise for their confidence and the quality of their arguments.
The Curriculum Committee just approved the Bankruptcy Moot Court class, which will be a 1-credit course next Spring, to be taught by Judge Gordon, that will develop the students’ bankruptcy knowledge and oral advocacy skills. The students will also compete in the Duberstein competition as part of the course curriculum.