The Evan A. Evans Constitutional Law Competition was established at UW Law School Law School as a tribute to Judge Evan A. Evans, a UW Law School graduate who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 1916 to 1948. The three-day competition is open to all ABA-accredited law schools throughout the U.S. and focuses on a question of Constitutional law.

This year, New York Law School and UC Hastings competed in the final round, with UC Hastings taking top honors.

"We were lucky enough to recruit distinguished judges and attorneys for both the preliminary and advanced rounds," said Competition Director Carly Zuba. "This gave every team the opportunity to argue before top-notch individuals."

The final panel of judges consisted of:
Judge Diane Sykes (7th Circuit Court of Appeals)
Judge John Tinder (7th Circuit Court of Appeals)
Justice Jon Wilcox (Retired WI Supreme Court Justice)
Justice Petra Maes (New Mexico Supreme Court Justice)
Justice John Dooley (Vermont Supreme Court Justice)
Justice Rives Kistler (Oregon Supreme Court Justice)
Justice in Residence Louis Butler

The UW Law School Moot Court Board does not compete in the Evans program, but runs the competition. According to Zuba, the many hours of preparation are well worth it.

"It's extremely rewarding to see a huge project like this finally come to fruition," she says. "Planning took about a year, and while it was a bit overwhelming at times, the Board and I definitely enjoyed ourselves. We received very positive feedback on the competition from not only the competitors and coaches, but also from many of the judges and attorneys who judged at the competition."

If you have questions or your school would like to participate in future Evans Moot Court competitions, please contact Competition Director Carly Zuba or Problem Writer Elizabeth Reeths at evanscompetition@gmail.com.

Submitted by UW Law News on April 8, 2011

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