Houston
Just got back from Houston. The University of Houston's Blakely Law Center and the Andrews Kurth law firm host the Moot Court National Championship. The competition, only three years old, is invitation only. It features the top 16 moot court programs based on the prior academic year's final intercollegiate competition rankings. Hastings has been invited every year. And by the way, this year Hastings was the only team west of the Rockies to be invited.
This year's problem was patent infringement and trademark dilution. Our Hastings team won four preliminary rounds and made it to the semifinals before bowing out. They were amazing advocates. The team, pictured left to right, included Erica Connolly, Coach Watt, Thomas Fay, and Ryan Rezai. Not pictured is student-coach and Hastings 3L, Josephine Mason. Their success was even more impressive because this time my team was all 2Ls.
Last year, Hastings did not field a team due to budget cuts. But in the inaugural event, we were also semifinalists. Two trip, two semifinalists. Not bad.
But not good enough. So with apologies to Dean Martin fans, if there is such a thing, next year "I'm going back to Houston, Houston, Houston."
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