CSULB Wins Second American Moot Court Association’s (AMCA) Oral Advocacy National Championship!

January 25, 2022

From L to R:Top: Emma Nelson, Aleece Hanson, Celeste Sanchez, and Judy Hails (Assistant Coach). Second Row from the Top: Kamra Jackson, Georgina Tierney, Jake Hill, and Jessica Zatarain. Middle Row: Kelton Munch, Vaishalee Chaudhary, Marco Romero, and Jocelyn Soto-Rivera. Second Row from the bottom: Alexa Alvarez, Nichole Athanitis, John Littles, and Lewis Ringel (Coach) Bottom Row: Pat Dyson (Assistant Coach).

For the second straight year, CSULB’s Moot Court Program has produced a national champion.  Over the weekend of January 21-23, CSULB Seniors Vaishalee Chaudhary and Marco Romero won the American Moot Court Association’s (AMCA) Oral Advocacy National Championship.  

This is CSULB’s second national championship in oral advocacy.  Only one other school has more—and just one more!  CSULB is one of just two public universities to win a national title for oral advocacy in AMCA’s 22-year history and it is the only public university to qualify for more than one national final (three) and more than two national semi-finals (four).  

The competition, which was held on Zoom, featured 100 teams from schools such as the University of Chicago, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, and UC Berkeley.  

Chaudhary and Romero, the only team in AMCA history to win three regional tournaments, won five of five competitions in 2021-22 and went undefeated on the season.  In addition to winning the national title for oral advocacy they finished 4th in the nation in respondent written advocacy.  They graduate as the winningest team in CSULB history.   Chaudhary and Romero defeated three teams from the University of Chicago, including one in the finals, one from traditional AMCA powerhouse Patrick Henry College, and their own teammates Kelton Munch and Georgina Tierney (quarter-finalists).  CSULB’s Aleece Hanson and Celeste Sanchez also qualified for the quarter-finals.  This gave CSULB three of the nation’s top 8 teams!

The final panel featured the following judges:

  • Illinois Supreme Court Justice Michael Burke
  • North Carolina Court of Appeals Justice Lucy Inman
  • California Court of Appeals Justice Lamar Baker
  • Maryland District Court Judge David Carey
  • West Virginia Solicitor General Lindsay See

Beyond this, CSULB won three regionals for the season and earned six bids to nationals.  CSULB’s Jessica Zatarain was named a top ten orator finishing 8th in the nation.   

Please join us in congratulating Lewis Ringel, and his whole team!