The Boston College Law School National Criminal Procedure Moot Court team placed in the top four at the 31st Annual National Criminal Procedure Tournament, held November 1-3 at the University of San Diego. The team, consisting of third-year students Eliza Walker and Anton Tikhomirov, competed against 40 other teams from around the country. Tikhomirov also won Best Oralist.
“My students were magnificent,” said BC Law professor Robert Bloom ’71, above, the team’s advisor and coach. “They worked extremely hard for the past month and a half. They were poised, smart, and articulate. Not only were Eliza and Anton great advocates, they were wonderful representatives of our school. I am so proud of their hard work and their significant accomplishment.”
The tournament involves multiple days of arguments before experienced members of the California Bench and Bar, advocating relevant issues of criminal procedure.
BC Law consistently performs well at moot court competitions like these. Last year, a BC Law team advanced from the Northeast Regional competition and earned a spot to compete in the National Moot Court Championship held in New York City. The year before, BC Law’s J. Braxton Craven Moot Court team won their competition at UNC Law School in Chapel Hill, and also won the Best Brief award. BC Law’s International Moot Court team also advanced from the Northeast Regional International Law Moot Court competition and went on to compete in Regional Finals in DC and Naples, Italy.
“I’d like to thank many of you who helped bench and contributed so much to the teams’ preparation, including my colleagues Kent Greenfield, Mark Brodin, Frank Hermann, Steve Koh, Dan Farbman, Kari Tannenbaum, and Rosemary Daly,” Bloom said. “It takes a village.”