{"id":73925,"date":"2026-05-11T13:27:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T18:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/?p=73925"},"modified":"2026-05-11T13:27:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T18:27:25","slug":"mitchell-hamline-team-finishes-as-finalists-in-mcgee-national-civil-rights-moot-court-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/2026\/05\/11\/mitchell-hamline-team-finishes-as-finalists-in-mcgee-national-civil-rights-moot-court-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitchell Hamline team finishes as finalists in McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mitchell Hamline School of Law hosted the 41st<\/sup> annual William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition this spring, welcoming 16 teams from law schools across the country and more than 80 volunteer judges and student bailiffs in this five-round, four-day virtual competition. Notably, this year\u2019s second-place finalists were a Mitchell Hamline team, consisting of students Kelly Griffin and Patience Silas and coached by Professor Vonda Brown.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kelly Griffin<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cTheir success was a major highlight of this year’s competition,\u201d said Director of Competitions and Externships Erica Strohl.<\/p>\n

The competition was equally impactful for Griffin and Silas in their law school career.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticipating in the 41st<\/sup>\u00a0Annual William E. McGee National Civil Rights competition was one of the most formative experiences of my legal education,\u201d said Griffin, who will graduate from Mitchell Hamline this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a first-generation law student engaging in moot court for the first time, the experience pushed me to develop confidence in an unfamiliar space while sharpening my ability to think critically under pressure,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt deepened my understanding of persuasive legal writing, particularly the skill required to humanize a client and craft a compelling narrative that resonates with judges while remaining grounded in the law. Beyond strengthening my oral advocacy, it opened my eyes to the realities of litigation and the kind of advocate I aspire to become.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Patience Silas<\/p><\/div>\n

For Silas, participating in the competition was especially meaningful in developing skills as she enters her third year in the blended-learning program next fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis experience reminded me that advocacy is both an art and a skill,\u201d she said. \u201cThe competition gave me greater confidence in my ability to present arguments, respond to tough questions, and adapt in real time.\u00a0More than anything, this competition taught me resilience. It was a rewarding opportunity to develop skills that will serve me throughout my legal career.\u201d<\/p>\n

The William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition seeks to promote interest in all areas of civil rights law and help interested students develop the oral advocacy and writing skills essential to be successful appellate practitioners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mitchell Hamline School of Law hosted the 41st annual William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition this spring, welcoming 16 teams from law schools across the country and more than 80 volunteer judges and student bailiffs in this five-round, four-day virtual competition. Notably, this year\u2019s second-place finalists were a Mitchell Hamline team, consisting … <\/p>\n

Mitchell Hamline team finishes as finalists in McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2537,"featured_media":73929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[797],"class_list":{"0":"post-73925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-features","8":"category-news","9":"tag-mcgee-national-civil-rights-moot-court-competition","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2537"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73928,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73925\/revisions\/73928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}