Ilana Diamond Rovner Program in Appellate Advocacy
The Ilana Diamond Rovner Program in Appellate Advocacy
provides sophisticated and systematic training in appellate advocacy
for students in the Chicago-Kent Moot Court Honor Society. Named for
the Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner, a 1966 graduate of the College of
Law and current Associate Justice on the United States Court of Appeals
for the Seventh Circuit, the program is a joint effort of the students,
alumnae/i, staff, and faculty of the law school. Students in the program
complete intensive coursework in appellate litigation, compete in intramural
competitions, and represent the law school in top appellate advocacy
tournaments throughout the United States.
The demanding selection process for the Rovner Program
garners the enthusiastic participation of a large number of Chicago-Kent
students. New members are accepted into the Society only after demonstrating
exceptional potential in written and oral advocacy, as well as superior
academic aptitude. Invitations to join the Society are extended each
year to the top advocates in the law school's first-year Charles Evans
Hughes Moot Court Competition and the Society's Summer Candidacy Program,
provided they satisfy other academic criteria.
Students selected for the Rovner Program enroll in Appellate
Advocacy, generally in the fall semester of their second year. The course
contains segments on advanced brief writing, advanced research skills,
and oral argument; it builds upon Chicago-Kent's first-year legal writing
and research courses. Students who distinguish themselves in the course
will go on to represent Chicago-Kent in national interscholastic moot
court competitions.
The students in the course receive personalized instruction
in brief writing, including detailed, one-on-one critique of their work.
The students are also divided into small groups for oral argument instruction.
The centerpiece of the course is the Ilana Diamond
Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition. Each student prepares a brief
on a significant appellate issue, as well as an oral argument on both
sides of that issue. Students present those arguments before panels
that consist of Chicago-Kent professors, practicing attorneys, and third-year
students with significant moot court experience. The top eight students
in the first round compete in a quarterfinal round. The top four students
then compete in a semi-final round, from which two students are selected
to argue in the final round before a panel that has included renowned
federal and state judges and academics. In November 2007, the final
round argument was heard by the Hon. Richard Cudahy and the Hon. Ilana
Diamond Rovner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh
Circuit, along with Professor Steven Heyman.
Three scholarships are presented at the conclusion of the competition.
The Ilana Diamond Rovner Award for Outstanding Appellate Advocate
is given to the student with the highest combined brief and oral argument
scores; the Ralph L. Brill Award is presented to the student
who wrote the best brief; and the Fay Clayton Award is presented
to the student with the best oral argument performance.
Students who have completed the course in Appellate Advocacy are eligible
to be selected to represent Chicago-Kent and the Rovner Program in interscholastic
competition.
