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Firm Sponsors 35th Annual Florida-Georgia Moot Court Competition

The 35th annual Florida/Georgia Moot Court Competition will be held on Friday, October 30, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. at the Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse.

A tradition in the Jacksonville legal community, this competition between the University of Florida and University of Georgia Colleges of Law is held annually on the Friday before the Florida/Georgia football game. The competition replicates an argument before the United States Supreme Court concerning a current, but unresolved issue of Federal constitutional law.

Mark Hulsey, a partner with the firm and a University of Florida graduate, began the competition 35 years ago. The event is now sponsored by Smith Hulsey & Busey and Atlanta-based law firm Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP and is called the ?Florida/Georgia-Hulsey/Gambrell? Moot Court Competition. The event honors Mark Hulsey and E. Smyth Gambrell.

Mr. Gambrell, a founding partner of Smith Gambrell, was president of the American Bar Association and the American Bar Foundation. Mr. Hulsey was president of The Florida Bar from 1969 to 1970 and the Jacksonville Bar Association in 1962.

The panel of participating judges in this year?s competition are: the Honorable Gerald B. Tjoflat, Circuit Judge, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal; the Honorable Wm. Terrell Hodges, Senior District Judge, Middle District of Florida; the Honorable William Moore, Senior District Judge, South District of Georgia; the Honorable Lisa Godbey Wood, Chief Judge, Southern District of Georgia; and the Honorable Marcia Morales Howard, District Judge, Middle District of Florida. Senior District Judge Avant Edenfield, who passed away on May 9, 2015, served on the judicial panel many times and will be remembered at this year?s event.

The record on appeal for this year?s moot court competition concerns a criminal defense attorney?s conviction for conspiracy in aiding his client?s crimes and the police search of the attorney?s motor vehicle.

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