Representing the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Kanyinsola Ajayi and Ty Parks, both expected to graduate in 2024, captured first place in the Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition (TMMCC) Mid-Atlantic Regional Competition. With this win, the duo advance to the competition’s national championship.
“I am grateful to BLSA for the opportunity to practice and develop my appellate advocacy skills in the TMMCC,” says Parks. “After taking Professor Nilam Sanghvi’s Appellate Advocacy course with Kanyinsola last fall, I knew that we were more than prepared to submit a compelling brief and persuasively argue our case.”
Penn Carey Law BLSA’s moot court team was coached and supervised by Robert Englert, a Philadelphia trial lawyer and an adjunct professor at the Law School.
“It has been my honor to work with Kanyisola and Ty, who deserve all the credit for this accomplishment,” says Englert. “Their brief was more articulate and persuasive than many of the briefs being filed by practicing attorneys in real courts, and their oral arguments were succinct, strategic, and persuasive. Every year, with each new group of Penn Carey Law students with whom I have the privilege of working, I have come to expect to be awed by my students’ brilliance and their commitment to working hard to achieve whatever goals they have set for themselves. Ty and Kanyisola have far exceeded those expectations. They are both brilliant and the results of their commitment speak for themselves. I am proud of their accomplishment and know that they will do well not only in the National Championships but also in whatever area of the law in which they choose to practice.”
The issues presented in this year’s competition were whether medical expert testimony on Battered Women’s Syndrome is sufficient evidence to prove the affirmative duress defense, and whether, where a juror has been exposed to extraneous information, a defendant is entitled to a presumption of prejudice.
This story is by Ruth Woldemichael. Read more at Penn Carey Law.
