DETROIT – Wayne State University Law School's team took home numerous honors after virtually competing in the U.S. Round 1 of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Feb. 12-13.

Wayne Law’s four oralists all placed in the Top 20 Oralists and the team earned a second place Memorial Award.

Team members are third-year students Jackson Buday, Erin Gianopoulos and Zoë Grenfell, and second-year students Tess Haadsma and Jacob Stropes. Gianopoulos serves as chancellor for the team. Professor Gregory H. Fox, director of Wayne Law's Program for International Legal Studies, is the team's faculty advisor.

Wayne Law was the only school to have every oralist place in the Top 20. Buday was the third best oralist overall, Stropes placed ninth, Grenfell placed 11th, and Haadsma placed 16th overall. 

“Wayne Law’s performance was just astonishing. Our point total - combining oral and written scores - was second only to Columbia Law School, well ahead of Harvard, Vanderbilt and 21 other law schools in our region. The team worked incredibly hard and I could not be prouder of their effort,” said Fox.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Jessup competition was thoroughly reorganized. In previous years, Wayne Law competed in a “midwest regional” competition, but this year’s competition included a wider array of schools. Also, all teams around the world are eligible to compete in the Global Rounds this year. In previous years a team would need to qualify at a regional competition to advance in the competition.

Wayne Law’s team will virtually compete in the Global Rounds between March 9 and April 17.

The Jessup competition is the world's largest moot court competition with participants from more than 700 law schools representing 100 countries. The competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations.

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Contact: Mary Hiller
Email: maryhiller@wayne.edu