The WashULaw Jessup team competed in the International Rounds of the Philip C. Jessup World Cup Moot Court competition, held from March 30 to April 6, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Congratulations to Mina Nur Basmaci, who was awarded the second-best oralist in the World Cup competition. This is an impressive achievement given that the competition had a total of 731 competitors eligible for speaking awards. Mina is the third WashULaw student in program history to place this high and only the second one to do it as a 2L.
Additional congratulations to the WashULaw team, who finished in the top third of all teams in the number of raw points accumulated and was only a few points away from qualifying for the knockout rounds. The WashULaw Respondent team defeated Universiteit Antwerpen from Belgium. WashULaw’s Applicant team defeated IMAT College from Sierra Leone. Ultimately the team lost razor-close rounds to Royal University of Law and Economics from Cambodia and Christ University from India, with the latter school having advanced to the Octo-Finals. The team is composed of the following four members: Mina Nur Basmaci (2L) and Victor Allison (2L), who represented the Applicant team; and Nareh Derhartounian (2L) and Sophia Crain (2L), who represented the Respondent team.
Many thanks to faculty advisor Professor Leila Sadat and team coach Honorable Gilbert C. Sison, United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Illinois. Team advisors are Regan Hildebrand (Assistant United States Attorney, Eastern District of Missouri), Kristina Houchins (Term Law Clerk, United States District Court Southern District of Illinois), Jack Hueseman (Term Law Clerk, United States District Court Eastern District of Missouri).
Overall, the World Cup competition brought together the national winners from 84 countries, as well as the 13 teams representing the United States. 150 teams competed in the week-long event for the right to be declared world champion. The new world champion is the University of the Philippines.