TALLAHASSEE — The Florida State University College of Law Moot Court Team has won first place in the 2017 Appellate Lawyers Association National Moot Court Competition. Florida State also won the Best Brief Award. The competition was held November 3-4 in Chicago.

Nineteen law school teams participated in the competition, including teams from Georgetown University Law Center, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and University of Wisconsin Law School. Florida State beat Chicago-Kent College of Law in the final round of competition, which was held in the ceremonial courtroom of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Winning team members are third-year law student Catie Messinger, from Jacksonville, and second-year law student Keriann Smith, from Panama City. FSU College of Law alumnus Joseph Gardner (’14), an associate at Henry Buchanan, P.A. in Tallahassee, coached the team to victory.

“Congratulations to our talented student advocates and to their coach,” said Dean Erin O’Connor. “This victory is another example of the excellence, talent, and commitment of Florida State law students!”

Florida State’s advocacy teams have a strong record of winning national competitions. Most recently, in March 2017, the FSU Law Moot Court Team won first place in the William B. Bryant-Luke C. Moore Civil Rights Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C.