17 Nov 2014
The Space, Cyber and Telecommunications Law program is proud to announce the 2015 Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court team for Nebraska Law. Third year students Danielle Miller and Jacob Tewes, and second year student Kiersten Haugen, will be representing Nebraska in the national competition this spring. The selection committee graded each candidate on their space law experience, their oral argument background and ability, and their brief writing.
The competition is based on a hypothetical space law dispute before the International Court of Justice. Participating teams are required to submit a formal written argument for both the Applicant State and the Respondent State on the legal issues of the hypothetical case and to argue each side of the case before panels of judges in their respective region. The winning teams from each Regional Round meet in the international final rounds, which are held in conjunction with the annual IISL Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space. The Final Round is traditionally judged by three judges of the International Court of Justice. This unique feature makes the Manfred Lachs Moot Court one of the most prestigious moot court competitions in the world. The competition will take place in late March to early April 2015 in Washington DC at the Georgetown Law College. The winning team will attend the International Rounds, as part of the IISL Colloquium, in Jerusalem in 2015.
Professor Matthew Schaefer will serve as the faculty advisor and LL.M. student Nathan Johnson will be coaching the team this year. Nathan has an extensive background in the subject area and has competed twice in this competition as a J.D. at George Washington Law School. Nebraska Law has a strong presence in the competition, with many of space, cyber and telecommunications law LL.M. alumni judging arguments and briefs (memorials). LL.M. alumni, and current J.S.D. student Giugi Carminati is the now a regional organizer of the competition.
Thank you to Stefanie Pearlman, Matthew Novak, Elsbeth Magilton, Matthew Schaefer, and Nathan Johnson for serving on the selection committee.