Denison University's Moot Court team found success in the Midwest Regional Moot Court Tournament, held on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 in Wooster, Ohio. Denison teams earned two bids to the National Tournament this year, and placed five students in the top 20 of all individual orators at the competition.

Moot Court is a simulation of an appellate court proceeding. Involving teams of student-contestants, clients burdened by a legal problem, briefs and oratory, participating teams present a legal problem before an appellate court and are judged on their performances by panels of students, attorneys, law faculty, or, on occasion, members of the judicial branch of government.

In the Regional Tournament Denison competed against teams from Wooster, Drake University (Iowa), Hamline University (Minn.), Youngstown State University (Ohio), Eastern Illinois University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Among 92 participants, Denison junior John Burzynski of New Brighton, Minn., placed ninth, and first-year student Brandon Haas of Fayetteville, Ark., placed 10th in the individual orator competition. Other top-20 orators from Denison included junior Tiffany Allen of Cincinnati (11th), sophomore Jake Mihalov of Pittsburgh (17th) and junior John Wolfenden of Cincinnati (20th).

Two Denison two-member teams, Allen and Wolfenden, and Haas and first-year student Alexis Smith of Charlotte, N.C., broke into the final round of 16, securing bids to the national tournament be held at Drake in Des Moines in late January. A third team Denison consisting of Burzynski and sophomore Greg Kendall of Westlake, Ohio, performed well enough to earn an alternate spot at the 2008 National Tournament.

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About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

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Director, Media Relations

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stambaughb@denison.edu

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(740) 587-8575