Boyd Students' Brief Places Second In National Competition

Second-year Boyd School of Law students Madana Hermiz, Amy Ma and Jared Moser received second place for their brief in the 25th Annual Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition held April 8-10 at Brooklyn Law School.

This year’s competition provided an opportunity for participants to write an appellate brief addressing an evidentiary issue in a contemporary context. It took about three months for the Boyd team to write their brief. After completing the brief, they practiced their oral arguments.

Madana Hermiz

Amy Ma

Jared Moser

"In preparing for the competition, I feel that it's made me more comfortable speaking on the spot and answering difficult questions on the draw. Although most people never work on the appellate level, the skills I've learned during preparation for the competition--being comfortable in a tense situation, learning how to steer the conversation in the direction I want it to go, learning how to deal with difficult questions, implementing persuasive speech--are skills that any attorney in any practice area can benefit from," Hermiz said.

A week before the team was scheduled to fly out to New York, Hermiz broke her ankle and needed surgery. Ma and Moser only had a week before the competition to learn Hermiz's part.

Despite the disadvantage, in the oral advocacy round of the competition the team made it to the octo-finals, which is the top 16 out of the 36 teams. In addition, their brief placed second overall. The team was coached by visiting Professor Douglas McFarland and third-year student Sara Almo who participated in the Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition last year.

The Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition honors the late Jerome Prince; renowned evidence scholar, teacher, and author of Prince on Evidence; who served as Dean of Brooklyn Law School from 1953-1971.