Boyd Students Place Fourth In Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition

Third-year students Siria Gutierrez and Crystal Tatco placed fourth overall at the Hispanic National Bar Association's 15th Annual Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition March 4-6 in San Diego, California.

"We always have exceptional students, but this year the competition is truly fierce. All teams produced very strong written briefs and oral arguments," said Román D. Hernández, HNBA National President. "In fact, some members of the judiciary who judged the competition commented that the students' oral argument skills equaled or surpassed some practitioners who appear before them."

"I'm really proud on how we placed overall," Tatco said. "It was a great competition and experience."

After two preliminary rounds and the quarter finals the team made it to the semi-finals where they were filmed during their oral arguments for the Hispanic National Bar Association website.

"At times we were only given ten minutes to prepare," Tatco said.

Nearly 400 people appeared for the competition's award ceremony and the top four moot court teams were also awarded with a cumulative total of $15,000 in scholarships.

The Hispanic National Bar Association serves as the national voice for the concerns and opinions of Hispanics in the community generally, and in the legal profession in particular. They also work with other bar associations, governmental agencies and community groups to achieve greater involvement in and understanding of the American legal system by the national Hispanic community.