IIT Chicago-Kent’s Chris Ktenas and Jing Zhang to Participate in the Thomas Tang International Moot Court Competition Finals

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law students Chris Ktenas '14 and Jing Zhang '15 have earned a wild-card berth to compete in the 2013 Thomas Tang International Moot Court Competition finals during the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) convention November 7 to 10 in Kansas City.

Ktenas and Zhang, who competed in the regional tournament at Loyola University Chicago on October 18 and 19, advanced through the tournament's largest regional field to the semifinals before falling to Loyola University Chicago, the eventual winners. In addition to making the semifinals, Ktenas and Zhang wrote the competition's fifth best brief. Their strong finish helped earn them a wild-card berth in the tournament's national finals.

Team member Ktenas earned a degree in information technology from Illinois State University. Teammate Zhang graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a double major in communications and environmental studies and a minor in science. 

The Thomas Tang International Moot Court Competition is sponsored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation. The competition is open to all students but is especially designed to reach out to Asian Pacific American law students, to provide them with an opportunity to showcase their writing and oral advocacy skills, and to provide scholarships.

The competition is named for the late Thomas Tang, a senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, Judge Tang was the first Chinese American named to the federal judiciary. During his 18 years on the Ninth Circuit, he wrote more than 400 opinions on American Indian law, labor practices, and individual rights. Judge Tang was a strong supporter of NAPABA and its activities, including the creation of its international moot court competition, which was renamed after his death in 1995. 

A native of Phoenix, Judge Tang served in the United States Army during World War II and the Korean War. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Clara and his law degree from the University of Arizona College of Law. After a brief stint in private practice, Judge Tang served as deputy county attorney of Maricopa, Arizona, and as assistant attorney general of Arizona. He was elected to the Phoenix City Council and spent seven years as a judge of the Superior Court of Arizona. Judge Tang returned to private practice prior to his appointment to the federal bench.

Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is celebrating "125 years of distinctive legal education." IIT Chicago-Kent is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law.