Two at LU win top speaker awards at Moot Court tournament

October 05, 2022 | by Shelbe Rodriguez

Four Lamar University teams participated in the University of Texas at Dallas Invitational Moot Court Tournament on Oct. 1. The teams competed virtually resulting in two students –– Kiera Figgins and Kaylee Goodspeed –– being ranked among the top speakers overall for the tournament. 

"I continue to be impressed with my moot court students. Year after year, these students work hard preparing their legal arguments. Students often begin working on their presentations before the fall semester even begins," said Craig Tahaney, instructor of political science and director of the LU Moot Court program. "Beyond the awards and recognitions that Lamar has received in undergraduate moot court, these students are learning the importance of advocacy. I could not be more proud." moot-court-team-2022

Moot court competitions involve two student advocates arguing constitutional issues before a mock Supreme Court. Students work together in their team to construct their legal arguments and present these arguments to judges throughout the competition. Based on preliminary round showings, teams advance to elimination rounds. Students are evaluated on their knowledge of the facts of the case, the case law, presentation skills and court room demeanor. Based on their individual scores, student advocates also receive individual speaker awards. Universities that participated in the University of Texas at Dallas Invitational tournament included University of Texas Tech University, University of Texas- Dallas, University of Texas at Arlington and Lamar University.

Individual Awards

Based on preliminary round scoring, individual awards were given to the top ten student advocates. Kiera Figgins was ranked No. 4 best overall speaker and Kaylee Goodspeed was ranked No. 10 best overall speaker of the tournament. According to Tahaney, this was the first moot court tournament in which Figgins has participated. Both Figgins and Goodspeed will receive gavels for their impressive showings. A total of 36 undergraduate students competed in the tournament.

Team Awards

After preliminary rounds, the top four seeded teams advanced to elimination rounds. Based on their preliminary rounds results, there were seven teams with a 2-1 record. As such, the tiebreaker was point differentials. The team of Kiera Figgins and Kaylee Goodspeed (2-1 record) was the No. 5 ranked team of the tournament and the team of Gillean Vandiver and Maissa Salibi (2-1 record) was the No. 6 ranked team of the tournament and narrowly missed the threshold to advance to the semifinal round.

Lamar Participants

  1. Gillean Vandiver, Senior, Political Science Major, Legal Studies Minor
  2. Maissa Salibi, Senior, Political Science Major, Legal Studies Minor
  3. Kiera Figgins, Senior, Psychology Major, Legal Studies Minor
  4. Kaylee Goodspeed, Senior, Psychology Major, Legal Studies Minor
  5. Dusti Boudreaux, Junior, Political Science Major, Legal Studies Minor
  6. Kayla Lundy, Sophomore, Political Science Major, Legal Studies Minor
  7. Shelbie Williams, Junior, Political Science Major, Legal Studies Minor
  8. Vivienne Carr, Sophomore, Political Science Major, Legal Studies Minor 

Next, students will compete in the Texas A&M University School of Law Regional Moot Court tournament on Nov. 4-5.