Samantha Jackson
  • political science
  • Class of 2014
  • Goodells, MI

Samantha Jackson, of Goodells, qualifies for national moot court tourney

2014 Nov 26

Samantha Jackson, of Goodells, is among four Saginaw Valley State University students who will compete in a national moot court tournament in Florida next year.

Jackson, a poltical science major, will join students Rachel Cahill, Jacob Mojica and Rachel Stocki. Each qualified for the American Collegiate Moot Court Association national championship tournament in Miami from Friday to Saturday, Jan. 16-17.

In a moot court competition, students act as attorneys in teams of two. They make arguments to a panel of judges by drawing from constitutional law and Supreme Court cases. Judges then decide winners based on public speaking ability, knowledge of cases and of law, and the ability to answer questions.

Two SVSU teams -- one featuring Cahill and Mojica and the other featuring Jackson and Stocki -- earned the national tournament berths after their stellar performance during the Great Lakes Regional tournament at SVSU from Friday to Saturday, Nov. 14-15.

Over 40 local attorneys and judges, as well as eight SVSU alumni -- who are attending or graduated from law school -- were part of the SVSU tournament.

Teams from Michigan, Ohio and Florida competed, with all seven schools placing at least one team on the second day of competition. SVSU qualified four teams for the second day of competition.

January won't mark the first time an SVSU team has advanced to the national competition, despite the fact the school's program has only existed five years. Previously, six groups participated in the tournament. The team of Jackson and Stocki also qualified for the 2014 national tournament in Phoenix.