Chicago-Kent advances to the national rounds of the 2018 Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition

The Chicago-Kent team of Noor Abdulmassih '20 and Gina Cesario '20 will advance to the national rounds of the 2018 Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition, sponsored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. The team placed second in the central regional tournament, held October 13 and 14 at the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Madison. 

The final rounds will be held November 9 and 10 at the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Convention in Chicago. This year, students are arguing a hypothetical First Amendment case involving a fictional law student who was expelled from her state university for off-campus expressive activity that university officials determined was in violation of her school's honor code. 

Second-year student Noor Abdulmassih graduated magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago with a bachelor's degree in English and political science. Gina Cesario, also a second-year student, earned her B.S. degree from Elmhurst College, where she was on the dean's list every semester.  

A second Chicago-Kent team of Timothy Cho '20 and Gabriela Herrera '20 argued well in the regional tournament but narrowly missed advancing to the finals.

Professor Katharine Baker helped the teams prepare. Aima Mori '19 and Chicago-Kent's chapter of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association organized and supported the teams. 

Sponsored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Law Foundation, the competition is open to all students but is especially designed to provide Asian Pacific American law students with an opportunity to showcase their writing and oral advocacy skills.

The competition is named for the late Thomas Tang, a senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Tang was a strong supporter of the bar association and its activities, including the creation of its moot court competition, which was renamed after his death in 1995.