The Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law & Policy hosted the revival of the National Animal Law Competitions (NALC) on March 18-19, 2023, in partnership with Harvard Law School, Lewis & Clark Law School, and Vermont Law & Graduate School.
The competitions consist of three distinct components: the Appellate Advocacy Competition, the Legislative Drafting & Lobbying Competition, and the Closing Argument Competition. Within each competition, a variety of awards were given.
Madeline Gilmore and Alex Schramkowski from Belmont University College of Law, were named winners in the Appellate Advocacy Competition. Schramkowski also was awarded the Best Oral Advocate. Kai Hardy and Morgan Zielinski from Vermont Law & Graduate School were named Runner Up and awarded Best Brief. Madison Gaffney and Bailey Soderberg, also from Vermont Law & Graduate School were named as semi-finalists in the competition as well as Joshua Cianek and Cooper Gehle from Michigan State University College of Law.
Nadia Pahodzina from Lewis & Clark Law School was named winner in the Closing Argument Competition. Pahodzina also was awarded the Best Posttrial Motions/Appeals Memo.
Natalie Zisa from Widener University Delaware Law School was named winner in the Legislative Drafting & Lobbying Competition. Allie Soileau from the University of Houston Law Center was named Runner Up. Soileau was also awarded Best Legislative Bill in the competition. Sophia Pastorini from the University of Miami School of Law and Taylor Mann from Lewis & Clark Law School were named finalists in the Competition. Mann was also awarded Best Legislative Fact Sheet.
The purpose of NALC is to provide law students an opportunity to develop knowledge in the field of animal law and to hone their written and oral advocacy skills. Previous competitions were held annually from 2004-2016.
For more information about the competitions, visit https://thebrooksinstitute.org/nationalanimallawcompetitions.