Third-year law students Suzanne Liabraaten and Andrea Schmitt won the inaugural Constance Baker Motley National
Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law last week. In addition, Schmitt was awarded Best
Oral Advocate at the competition, held June 15, 2006 at the annual convention
of the American Constitution Society (ACS) in Washington, DC.
Participants argued before the Hon. Dolores K. Sloviter and
the Hon. Theodore McKee, both of the Third Circuit, and the Hon.
Catherine C. Blake of the U.S. District Court for Maryland. Liabraaten and
Schmitt received $3,000 from ACS in recognition of their achievement.
The national competition is named for the
late Judge Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005). Motley, a prominent advocate with the NAACP Legal
Defense and Education Fund, was the first African-American woman to serve as Chief Judge in
the federal judiciary.