The Salmon P. Chase law students have done it again.

The Chase Moot Court Team finished in second place in a national moot court competition held in Manhattan at the New York Law School.

Moot court isn’t like the average “Law ‘ Order.” Second-year law student Jennifer Cloyd, a member of the team, said the easiest way to describe it is that they work on appeals. “We are arguing to a judge to either change the law, or apply it differently in our client’s case,” she said.

The team had roughly two months to prepare both a brief and oral arguments for the case they would argue. “We were arguing at the fake Supreme Court level,” Cloyd said. The members collaborated on ideas for the brief and appointed one person to make it into a cohesive document.

Lawrence Rosenthal, assistant professor of legal writing, was the faculty adviser for the team. This was Rosenthal’s second year going to the competition with Chase. Rosenthal said he believes this is the farthest the moot court team has ever gone in regards to the competition. “They couldn’t have done a better job,” he said.

Cloyd was torn about winning the second place award. For Chase and Northern Kentucky University, she felt that the win was great. “When we went up there, they literally had no idea who we were. One woman even called us the University of Northern Kentucky,” she said. “From the school standpoint it was very, very exciting.”

Cloyd wanted them to win it all though. “It was disappointing only because we were on such a high,” Cloyd said.

The Chase Mock Trial Team swept the regionals. They brought home the championship trophy from the regional competition that was held in New Orleans.

Brenna Penrose, a law student and a member of the team, felt like it was a great experience. “We worked incredibly hard,” she said. “It was a grueling schedule.”

Wende Cross, the team coach, agreed. “It took a lot of commitment and dedication on their part,” she said. “It was a stellar performance…it gives them a preview of what it takes to be successful as a litigator. Not everyone is cut out for it.”

Penrose said that the members of the team met four times a week on average, and sometimes more. At the competition, they had to argue both sides of the case, the prosecution and the defense.

“There were some really good schools there. Vanderbilt, the University of Alabama…We felt that we truly represented Chase and NKU to the best of our ability,” Penrose said.

The members of the Chase Moot Trial Team included Jennifer Cloyd, Carrie Fischesser and Dori Thompson. The members of the Chase Mock Trial Team included Casey Kimball, Brenna Penrose, Brionnea Williams and David Williamson.