Vermont Law School Team Makes Top 3 in National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition

Three students from Vermont Law School advanced to the final round of the 2015 Jeffrey G. Miller Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (NELMCC), one of only three teams to do so of the 62 who participated in the competition Feb. 19-21 at Pace Law School.

Andrew Minikowski ’15, Allison Gabala ’15 and Katherine Hambley ’15 represented Vermont Law School at NELMCC, the largest interschool moot court competition of its kind in the country. Each year, the competition attracts hundreds of competitors and attorneys who serve as judges for three days of oral arguments.

The 2015 final round judges were retired Chief Judge Patricia Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrative Law Judge Barbara Gunning, and Judge Malachy Mannion of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

"I would like to extend heartfelt congratulations and kudos to Allison Gabala, Kate Hambley and Andy Minikowski, our National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition team," said Assistant Professor Laura Murphy, associate director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic at VLS. "The team advanced to the final round of the competition on Saturday and gave a top-notch performance. Throughout the competition, the team was uniformly quick on its feet, engaged with the judges, remarkably composed and well-spoken under pressure, and expert on the substance."

The Vermont Law School community wishes to congratulate the University of Mississippi School of Law team as the 2015 NELMCC champions and the University of Montana School of Law team, VLS’s co-finalist.

For more information about the Jeffrey G. Miller Pace National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, including a webcast of the 2015 final round, visit www.law.pace.edu/jeffrey-g-miller-pace-national-environmental-law-moot-court-competition.

The Environmental Law Center (ELC) at Vermont Law School offers the largest and deepest environmental program of any law school in the nation. For more information about environmental studies at VLS, including degrees and clinical training, visit the Environmental Law Center online at vermontlaw.edu/ELC, email Anne Mansfield Linehan at alinehan@vermontlaw.edu, or call 802-831-1287.