Post date: April 22, 2004
Harvard Law School recently captured the U.S. championship of the 2004 Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, defeating the University of Georgia and Columbia University in elimination rounds. The HLS team consisted of second-year students Naomi Loewith and Hugo Torres, first-year student Erica Fung, and third-year student Nathaniel Stankard. In addition to winning the national title, the team advanced to the world quarterfinals before being defeated by eventual finalist Singapore.
Harvard won the right to represent the northeast region of the United States in international competition after claiming victory in the regional championship held in February. This year marked the sixth consecutive year that a team from Harvard Law School has attended the international rounds, which this year included 94 teams from 80 nations. Those competitors were drawn from 529 teams from 85 countries.
Widely recognized as the most prestigious international law moot court competition in the world, the Jessup was co-founded by Harvard Law school in 1959. This year’s problem addressed the jurisdiction and admissibility of cases before the International Criminal Court, as well as the legality of Security Council actions.