The 46th Florida-Georgia / Hulsey-Gambrell Moot Court Competition concluded with a win for the University of Georgia. Smith Hulsey & Busey co-hosted the event with Smith, Gambrell & Russell on Oct. 30 at the 11th Circuit Courthouse in Atlanta.
The competition is ordinarily held in Jacksonville, but this year it moved to Atlanta along with the Florida-Georgia football game while Jacksonville’s stadium undergoes renovations. The annual event brought together top law students from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and the University of Georgia School of Law to argue a mock appellate case before a panel of state and federal judges. The annual event is open to the public and offers a rare opportunity to observe exceptional oral advocacy and judicial deliberation in a real courtroom setting.
The University of Georgia team was represented by Elijah Echols and William Sowers, while Nick Chinaris and Jerr Cox represented the University of Florida.
This brings the tournament record to 29 wins for Georgia, 12 wins for Florida and five ties. UGA students will keep the championship trophy at their law school for the year.
The judges who took part in this year’s competition included:
- Hon. Charlie Bethel, Supreme Court of Georgia
- Hon. Sarah E. Geraghty, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- Hon. William M. Ray II, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
- Hon. Britt C. Grant, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Hon. Sara L. Doyle, Court of Appeals of Georgia
Smith Hulsey shareholder Brandon Cook led the firm’s involvement in this year’s competition, working alongside attorneys from Smith, Gambrell & Russell, to continue this longstanding tradition.
Since 1980, the competition has been sponsored by Smith Hulsey & Busey and Smith, Gambrell & Russell to honor Mark Hulsey and E. Smythe Gambrell, two respected attorneys whose leadership and service left a lasting impact on the legal profession. Hulsey, a former Smith Hulsey partner, served as president of both The Florida Bar and the Jacksonville Bar Association, while Gambrell, founding partner of Smith Gambrell, led the American Bar Association and the American Bar Foundation.
For more than four decades, the Florida-Georgia Moot Court Competition has offered law students invaluable courtroom experience while strengthening professional connections between the two states’ legal communities.
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