Boston College Law School’s Board of Student Advisors (BSA) hosted the William E. & Carol G. Simon Advocacy Banquet on April 13 to recognize and celebrate the school’s advocacy teams’ successful year. BSA President Jacqueline Short ’26 and Vice President Samantha Torre ’27 opened the festivities with remarks followed by Advocacy Committee Chair Professor Jeffrey Cohen and National Mock Trial Coach Professor Steve Van Dyke ’08.
Three students were recognized with special awards for their performances this year. Bennett Demsky ’27 won the Russell G. Murphy Award for Outstanding Second-Year Oralist. The Joseph F. & Mary M. Gill Award for Outstanding National Trial Competition Participant went to Sarah Kaplan ’26. And the Peter A. Donovan Award for Outstanding Third-Year Oralist was taken home by Keyon Rostamnezhad ’26.
The mock trial and moot court teams provide students with the invaluable opportunity, as part of their law school education, to develop and refine oral advocacy skills and to put them to the test in competitive environments before distinguished panels of judges.
The following is a quick roundup of the various teams’ highlights from the 2025-2026 academic year.
National Mock Trial Team
The National Mock Trial team notched a big win in the fall in the inaugural Cambridge Clash at Harvard Law School with competitors Hannah Phillips ’27, Melanie Sztulman ’26, and Sarah Kaplan ’26. Phillips, in her first-ever competition as a representative of BC Law, took home the Best Advocate Award (a gavel), for having received among the highest scores of all of the students at the competition. Additionally, Kaplan received the best advocate honors in the final round.
The team followed up that win with another in November at the Quinnipiac University School of Law/ABA Criminal Justice Mock Trial Competition, this time by team members Sage Wenninghoff ’27, Bennett Demsky ’27, Leia Washington, and Jenna Blocher ’27. Demsky also won the award for Best Overall Advocate at the competition.
The National Mock Trial Team also fielded two semi-finalist teams at the Regional rounds of the highly competitive Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) National Trial Competition (NTC) at BU Law in January and February. Those teams were comprised of Leia Washington ’27 and Demsky on one; and Melanie Sztulman ’26, Katherine Ovoian ’27, and Phillips.
Then a team of Blocher, Jacqueline Short ’26, Kaplan, and Wenninghoff made the semi-finals at the American Association for Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition in Philadelphia in March.
National Moot Court Team
Maxwell Pardoe ‘26, and
Emily Rockwell ‘26
The National Moot Court Team, coached by Professor Tom Carey ’65, competed in New York City in January for the National Moot Court Competition. Emily Rockwell ’26, Jayna Robotham ’26, and Maxwell Pardoe ’26 formed the team.
The BC Law team—the New England Region 1 champion—was one of 28 teams from 14 regions competing in the National Rounds held at the home of the New York City Bar. They won arguments in two elimination rounds, the octo-finals, and the quarter-finals. In the semifinals, they lost an extremely close argument with Loyola Chicago, which was the eventual National Champion.
National First Amendment Moot Court Team
Anna Guzman ’26
The First Amendment Moot Court Team, coached by Professor Rosemary Daly ‘87, impressed with their performance in the Seigenthaler-Sutherland National First Amendment Moot Court Competition held in March at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in Washington, DC. The team of Anna Guzman ‘26 and Sean Holly ‘26 reached the national quarterfinals of the competition.
The team argued a case that involved a hypothetical Campus Anti-Doxxing Statute. At issue was its constitutionality under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment when it protects the public from harm by providing a private right of action against speech that is likely to either threaten the subject of the speech or spur others to violence.
National Environmental Law Moot Court Team
The National Environmental Law Moot Court Team traveled in February to Pace University in New York for the national competition, where they distinguished themselves by reaching the National Quarterfinals. Professor Harlan Doliner coached the team of Alex Mostaghimi ‘26, Carly Morris ‘26, and Spencer Coben ‘26, which won a competition award for Best Brief Overall. It is believed to be the first time BC Law has won this distinction in the competition’s history. In addition to the team award, Mostaghimi brought home the Best Oralist award in the team’s first preliminary round.
The case the team worked on involved a fictional US state that had suffered climate-related disasters and enacted the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Act (CAMA), levying special taxes on fossil fuel interests and properties in “endangerment zones” to fund climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The US government opposed the Act, alleging they violated the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause and the Dormant Commerce Clause. The state defended the Act as a valid exercise of state authority to protect the welfare of its citizens. And a third party, The Innocent Purchasers of Homes, intervened in support of the Act to uphold the fossil fuel fees.
National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Team
and Audrey Vila ‘26
The team, coached by Professor Daly, traveled to the Seton Hall Hall University School of Law in Newark to compete in the John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition in March. Audrey Vila ’26 and Sophie Johnson ’27 made a strong showing, advancing to the Sweet 16 round. Johnson was also named fifth best oralist out of a field of 80 advocates.
Jessup International Law Moot Team
This year’s team performed well at the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Regionals held in Atlanta from March 5-9. Members were Daniel Madden ’26, Dylan Burgess ’26, Gabriela Nitorreda ’27, and Keyon Rostamnezhad ’26, coached by Ian Collins ’20, an instructor at BC Law. Three of the four competitors earned coveted “Best Oralist” awards and the team placed 19th overall. In the competition this year, a key theme the team needed to grapple with in the case problem was the level of consent or consultation a state needs to have with indigenous peoples prior to intrusive development of lands with sacred value.
When asked about the value of her experience with the oral advocacy program, Kaplan, from the National Mock Trial Team, commented that it offered students the opportunity to collaborate with faculty and experienced legal professionals to cultivate a voice that is both confident and authentic.
“Rather than teaching a single style or approach to advocacy, the program shapes students into advocates who communicate with clarity, conviction, and purpose that is unmistakably their own,” Kaplan said. She added that the skills developed will help students launch their careers as adaptable and principled advocates. Giving particular credit to the faculty coaches for their mentorship and pushing her to continually improve, she closed by saying, “These experiences and skills honed through the program will remain central to my development as I take on new challenges after BC Law.”