Dynamic Final Round and Celebration Cap the 40th Annual Prince Evidence Competition

The 40th Annual Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition concluded on Saturday, after 34 talented teams from across the country competed over three days. A full house in Brooklyn Law School’s Moot Court Room witnessed the spectacular final round between the American University Washington College of Law team of Jacqueline Blank and Stephanie J. Papatsos and the University of California Law School San Francisco team of Hayley Slater and David Gay. American University came out the winner. (See the full list of winners below.)

Both teams were applauded for their performance by the all-star alumni panel of final round judges, Hon. Ramon E. Reyes Jr. ’92, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of New York; Hon. Claire Kelly ’93, Judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade and Hon. Jennifer Philpott Wilson ’01, U.S. District Court Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

“Excellent job, everyone. I’m very impressed,” said Reyes.

Kelly echoed that praise for the teams. “From the citations to the record handling of cases, you were just fantastic,” she said. “We had to remind ourselves that you were students!”

She added a special word about the Prince Competition itself and its founding and longtime Brooklyn Law advisers. “I want to take the judge’s prerogative to acknowledge that this is the 40th anniversary of this wonderful competition, and to personally thank so many of the people who for years made this competition one of the best in the country, several of whom are no longer with us: the great professors Margaret Berger, Richard Farrell, Mollie Falk, and of course, someone near and dear to my heart, Bob Pitler ’66, who bought me this robe when I became a judge,” Kelly said. “Also, very specially and in the audience today, Ursula Bentele. This is a wonderful institution. I'm just so proud to sit here with two of my fellow alums. So, thank you for giving us the opportunity.”

Wilson concurred. “The highest praise that I can give you is simply to say that within a few minutes of the argument starting, I forgot that this was moot,” she said. “I felt like I was engaged with four lawyers having a very interesting discussion about very interesting issues.”

She also spoke about the hard work that Brooklyn Law has done for 40 years to put on this successful competition, as well as giving a nod to the late Pitler, as a great mentor when she herself had been a writer for the Prince problem, and as “an incredible force of energy. He really lived this competition. And for those of us who had the good fortune to learn from him, he was a powerhouse of evidence knowledge and an incredible personality.”

And the Prince Competition Winners Are:

First Place: Jacqueline Blank and Stephanie J. Papatsos, American University Washington College of Law

Runner-Up: Hayley Slater and David Gay, University of California Law School San Francisco

Best Brief: Mississippi College of Law

Runner-Up for Best Brief: University of Illinois College of Law

Best Overall Oralist: Kaci Loveland, University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law

Best Final Round Oralist: Hayley Slater, University of California Law School, San Francisco

Among the special awards presented at the conclusion of the final round, was the annual “Princey” award, given to Professor Eric Yap, who is co-adviser with U.S. Magistrate Judge James Cho, of the Prince problem-writing team that includes Nicholas Biblis ’25, Liam Higgins ’25, Michael Lynch ’25, Olivia Perkins ’25, Giulia Pines ’25, and Sinbay Tan ’25.

Yap applauded the team, who, he said, had put in a tremendous amount of work for months on creating the competition’s case, which included complex legal issues, including the use of geofence warrants in a search, spousal testimonial privilege, and a potential violation of the defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights.

At the festive reception and banquet following the competition, student competitors, judges, coaches, and current members of Brooklyn Law’s Moot Court Honor Society (MCHS) were joined by MCHS alumni for a special reunion, as well as family and friends. MCHS President Dylan Diamond ’25 welcomed everyone and thanked his fellow MCHS members and Prince Committee members for their dedicated work, especially the Writing Team and the dynamic Prince Coordinator Carly Hecht ’25, who devoted countless hours to organizing the competition and reception.

As President and Joseph Crea Dean David D. Meyer said in his remarks congratulating all the teams that took part, “This is a landmark competition, and a cause for great celebration.”

See photos from the competition and reception here.

For more information on the history of the Prince Competition, see the story.