Both UND Teams Advance to Semi-Finals at Regional IP Moot Court Competition. One is Heading to the National Competition in Washington, D.C.
Two UND IP Moot Court teams recently competed in the Giles Rich IP Moot Court Southern Region Competition held in Houston, Texas on March 17-18.
Haley Finch (3L) and Muriel Rott (3L) represented one of the teams and Sarah Belliston (2L), Casey Drege (2L), and Danielle Middleton (2L) comprised the other. Both teams were coached by UND School of Law Assistant Professor Nikola Datzov. 
After strong showings in the preliminary rounds, both teams advanced to the Semi-Final Rounds where they faced off against one another in the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse before a panel of three judges. At the conclusion of the round—which featured excellent argument on both sides—the team of Sarah Belliston, Casey Drege, and Danielle Middleton advanced to the Final Round, where they competed against a returning team from last year’s competition from the University of Texas. The judges from the Final Round remarked how close the scoring of the round was and suggested it could serve as a preview of the final at the National Competition in Washington, D.C. on April 12-14, which a team from University of Texas won two years ago.
In addition to taking home the awards for Southern Region Runner Up, the team of Sarah, Casey, and Danielle also won the award for Best Appellant’s Brief and Best Overall Brief Scores.
“All of our students performed exceptionally well at the competition in representing the UND School of Law. I am extremely proud of the hard work they put in to prepare for the competition and their ability to rise to the occasion in advancing into the later rounds among difficult competition. Their talents were on full display, and they demonstrated that they will be excellent attorneys for their future clients,” commented Prof. Datzov. During the Semi-Final round that consisted of two UND teams, the judges complemented all four UND competitors on their impressive abilities to answer difficult questions, as well as present legal arguments with impeccable composure and skill. One judge described the oral argument by Sarah and Casey during one of the rounds as “magical.” “The results reaffirm that our students are confident, smart, and excellent advocates who possess the talents to compete with any other law school in moot court. It is wonderful that they are getting the recognition for it. And I’m glad they will have the opportunity to further showcase their talents at the National Competition in Washington, D.C. before expert IP practitioners and judges.”
