Following her opening argument, Olatokunbo Olaniyan thought she ended her team’s chances of winning in the final round.

But the Syracuse University Outlaw moot court team competed and won the second annual University of California, Los Angeles National Sexual Orientation Law Moot Court Competition on Friday by defeating the University of California, Davis.

‘After I argued, I thought I lost it for them,’ said Olaniyan, a first-year law student at the College of Law. ‘I felt I ruined it for everyone.’

Olaniyan had to face a ‘hot bench,’ where the judges repeatedly asked her questions, she said. She said she was hesitant in her answers, had difficulty understanding the soft-spoken judge and kept asking him to repeat the questions.

However, Josh Bourdeaux, a second year law student at SU’s College of Law, said Olaniyan was still able to impress the judges by sticking with her convictions.

‘She stuck to her answer,’ Bourdeaux said. ‘We were all nervous because she didn’t get into her whole argument, but she answered the questions well, and the judges respected her for that.’

Although the team, comprised of second-year law student Kristin Mikolaitis, Boudreaux and Olaniyan, went on to win the competition, it was by the slimmest of margins.

‘(UC Davis) was extremely impressive,’ Bourdeaux said. ‘After the competition was over, it was clear it could have gone either way.’

Casey Sprock, the coach of the team and a professor at the College of Law, agreed and said their competitors were ‘admirable.’

‘My team members and I very much respect the quality of their presentation and the work that they did,’ Sprock said. ‘What put the Syracuse team over the edge was our ability to answer very difficult questions.’

Since the competition has ended, the only thing the law students have left to argue about is whether they’ll have an interest in competing again next year.

‘We’re all coming back next year, and we’ll have to decide whether we want to try out for the team again,’ Bourdeaux said. ‘It’s hard to top a national championship. We’ll have to decide if we want to try and repeat next year.’

For Mikolaitis, she said she has already made her decision.

‘It was a very good experience this year, but it was also a very large time commitment,’ Mikolaitis said. ‘I don’t expect to apply to the moot court team again next year, although I’d love to help out and support the team that is chosen to compete.’

As for coaching next year’s team, Sprock answered with a resounding ‘absolutely.’ He said coaching the team has been a worthwhile experience, especially watching the individual growth each student has made.

‘Its one thing to watch a group of people work, grow and evolve over four to six weeks and know that they’re the best,’ Sprock said. ‘But to have other people recognize the value of their work and the accomplishments they have made is more than gratifying.’

Sprock said he would like to thank Outlaw: Gay/Straight Law Student Alliance for sponsoring the competition and for the financial support from the College of Law’s Student Senate and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center.

Published on February 28, 2006 at 12:00 pm