31 Mar 2021
Nebraska Law students Leana Brown, ’22, Lauren Bydalek, ’22, and Martin Fischer, ’22, competed in the 2021 International Institute of Space Law Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition March 26-27th. The competition was based on a hypothetical space law dispute before the International Court of Justice. Participating teams were 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. Rooted in international law, this year’s competition focused on issues arising out of large satellite constellations including state responsibility, liability, and safety zones.
After an impressive two preliminary rounds the team advanced to quarter finals. There they impressed, but narrowly missed (.04 points) moving to the semi-final round, still outperforming over half of the teams in the competition. Professor Frans von der Dunk, Adam Little, ’12, and Executive Director Elsbeth Magilton, ’12, coached the team. Additionally, LL.M. alumnus Nathan Johnson, ’15, is now a regional organizer of the competition. Nebraska Law is extremely proud of its rich and continued history and involvement with this competition.