Michigan State University Law students Taylor Mills (left) and Skylar Steel advanced to the semi-final round of the Gender & Sexuality Moot Court Competition held March 20. Sixteen teams from across the country participated.
On March 20, Michigan State University College of Law hosted the inaugural Gender & Sexuality Moot Court Competition. The program took place over Zoom with 16 teams in attendance from across the nation.
The MSU Law team of Taylor Mills and Skylar Steel advanced to the semi-final round before a narrow loss to Seton Hall Law School, who went on to defeat Columbia Law School in the final for the first-place finish, as well as collecting the Best Brief Award. Advocates from Columbia Law School and Wayne State University Law School took the Top Oralist Awards.
“As an aspiring social justice advocate, I am grateful for the opportunity that the MSU Gender & Sexuality Moot Court Competition offered both to learn from my coaches, partner, and opposing teams, and to practice the skills necessary for public interest advocacy,” Mills explained. “This competition is important because it highlights how our nation’s equal rights protections are often wrongfully gatekept from marginalized communities like transgender people, but justice is not a zero-sum game!”
The competition was spearheaded by Associate Clinical Professor Nancy Costello and Adjunct Professor Heather Johnson with the support of the competition’s Student Leadership Team, including Abigail Cote, Erin Shrum and Joshua Cambri.
At present, MSU Law is the only law school to host a national competition that emphasizes this area of law. The Williams Institute at UCLA has hosted a similar competition in the past, to which MSU Law has sent teams to compete. Many alumni, and former members of the Williams Institute Moot Court Competition, were engaged as volunteer judges.
“LGBTQ+ members are facing new attacks on their rights every day with new emerging laws that further discriminate against our community. Being afforded the opportunity to research one of the issues the trans community is currently facing has helped me feel more equipped to advocate for trans rights and LGBTQ+ rights generally,” Steel said. “I am thankful for my coaches, Professor Nancy Costello and Professor Heather Johnson, and my partner, Taylor Mills, for continuously pushing me to dig deeper on these issues.”
The competition organizers worked with the LGBTQ Section of the State Bar of Michigan and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan to recruit judges, with additional support from the Office of the Attorney General. Michigan State University Federal Credit Union sponsored the Best Brief Award ($1,000) and the Top Oralist Awards ($500 x 3 Advocates).
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