The Temple Law Moot Court Honor Society has welcomed 12 new members, chosen for their performance in the 40th Annual Samuel Polsky Moot Court Competition.
Of the 12, selected for the strength of their written briefs and their oral argument in the preliminary rounds, eight competed in a semi-final round of oral arguments and four in a final round. At the conclusion of the final round, 2L James Shygelski was named Champion, while 2L Amanda Capaldi took second place. The entire class of incoming Honor Society members includes:
- Nicole Borstorff
- Amanda Capaldi
- John Claffey
- Kevin Cunningham
- Jorge Garcia
- James Lafferty
- Jasmine Peele
- James Shygelski
- Amy Skiles
- Trisha Stein
- Katelynn Storm
- Beau Wilson
The final round of oral arguments took place on Tuesday, October 20 in the Duane Morris Moot Court Room. Finalists Nicole Borstorff, Amanda Capaldi, James Lafferty, and James Shygelski argued before a panel that included the Hon. Susan Maven, New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division; the Hon. Diane Thompson, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas; and Stuart Lev, Assistant Federal Defender.
The 2015 Polsky Competition problem, written by current Moot Court Honor Society members Nicole Falgoust and Shanna Miles, required the competitors to brief and argue whether a private university that received federal funding engaged in unlawful discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 when it prohibited a transgender student from using the sex-segregated facilities that matched that student’s gender identity. The problem was based on fictional events.
Watch the Final Round
Photo: The Hon. Diane Thompson, Dean JoAnne Epps, Polsky Champion James Shygelsky, the Hon. Susan Maven, Stuart Lev.