The Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (NELMCC)

About the Competition

Every year law student advocates nationwide assemble at The Elisabeth Haub School of Law to compete in the largest interschool moot court competition under one roof. Over 200 competitors and 150 attorneys participate in grading briefs and serving as judges for the three day competition.

NELMCC tests students' skills in appellate brief writing and oral advocacy and uses issues drawn from real cases to provide students first-hand experience in environmental litigation while also providing a rigorous academic experience.

The Competition is distinctive in that three adverse teams argue the issues, reflecting the fact that environmental litigation frequently involves multiple parties — the government, a public interest group, and a member of the regulated industry.

Rounds

Oral arguments begin with three preliminary rounds. Judges evaluating the oral arguments include attorneys with environmental law expertise, local attorneys and judges from the nation’s courts. Final round judges are members of the federal and state benches and the US EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board.

The Problem

Each year the legal problem involves timely issues of national importance and/or internatonal importance to the practice of environmental law.

REGISTRATION IS OFFICIALLY OPEN THROUGH October 1, 2023

• Registration is limited to the first 51 teams.  One Team per school. Payment link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nelmcc-2024-team-payment-registration-registration-651072644807
• Deadline to register is October 1 or until full. 
• Each team must complete the online individual team member registration form by October 26, 2023 https://forms.gle/vmzFMuhyFS44vmQ77
• The nonrefundable registration fee is $895.00 payable online by credit card or check payment
• Late registrations will be considered if space allows.
• NELMCC office will notify team contact with Team Number when school is officially registered.
• The Problem will be distributed by email on or about October 3, 2023 to the (1) Team Contact.

Sonesta Hotel - White Plains

2024 Shuttle Information

Click here for PDF of 2024 Fact Sheet

Click here for TEAMS
 

Click here for JUDGES

The Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition is grateful to the organizations and people whose generous financial support help make the event possible.  

We are pleased to have the following as major supporters:

The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) is the premier forum for environmental, energy, and resource lawyers, advisors, and decision makers. SEER represents more than 7,500 members with a wide range of professional interests and is committed to providing content to help members enhance professional skills and dialogue on relevant subject areas. To learn more about SEER, please visit www.ambar.org/joinseer.

Briefs: Service of Opposing Teams

In satisfaction of the requirement of service on opposing teams, the 2024 teams have submitted electronic briefs by email attachments. These files are in PDF format. Teams can be identified by their number.

Competitors: Please take a moment to look at your own team's brief and report any problems by email to nelmcc@law.pace.edu or telephone (914) 422-4426

LINKS TO INDIVIDUAL BRIEFS

Below are the links to the individual briefs. Although we have scanned all the files for viruses, saving the files gives your virus-scanning software a chance to rescan and is the best practice when downloading files from the web. If a team has withdrawn from the competition, their corresponding team number will not link to a brief.

2024 Official Rules

2024 Problem

2024 Problem Questions & Answers

• Forms for NYS CLE Credit

  • NYS CLE Attendance Sheet and Attorney Affirmation for Judging (2.0 CLE Credits Per Round in Areas of Professional Practice; Maximum 6.0 CLE Credits. Complete this form after you are finished judging all 2023 NELMCC rounds that you are signed up for.

  • NYS CLE Attendance Sheet, Attorney Affirmation, and Program Evaluation for Ethics CLE (2.0 CLE Credits in Ethics: Ethical Challenges for for Environmental Lawyers
    9:00AM, February 24, 2023. (Must Complete after attending on 2/24/2023)

FINAL ROUND JUDGES

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is proud to welcome the following distinguished members of the bench as Final Round Judges in this year’s Competition.

Each year, our campaign goal is to raise money that will continue to grow NELMCC as a premier environmental moot court and add to the outstanding reputation of the Pace Environmental Law Program.
Please consider making a donation to NELMCC.   We rely 100% on the generous support of donors to help fund the administration of the event.
Based on your donation level, you will be recognized for your generosity in a variety of ways as shown on the enclosed sponsor form.  Click here for more information & donation levels. 

CLICK HERE TO MAKE ONLINE DONATION
SPECIAL NOTE: CHECK THE BOX TO DESIGNATE YOUR GIFT TO THE  "NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW MOOT COURT COMPETITION"

Thank you for supporting NELMCC.

Click here to view 2023 NELMCC Competition

Click here to view 2023 Final Team Scores

Click here to view 2023 Quarter and Semi finalists

 

The 2023 Jeffrey G. Miller
National Environmental Law
Moot Court Competition Results

2023 WINNERS

Columbia Law School - Team 30
Better Living Corporation (BELCO)
Max Cornell, Anne Li, Kai Salem

2023 FINALIST

Wayne State University School of Law - Team 33
Fawtown Association for Water Safety (FAWS)
Emily Barr, Claire Glenn

2023 FINALIST

Tulane University School of Law - Team 10
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Jonathon Artigues, Sophia Cefolia, Andrew Meaders

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2023 Best Oralist

Lauren Matosziuk - Team 6
Lewis & Clark School of Law

2023 Best Oralist - Honorable Mention

Jamie Mills - Team 3
Baylor University School of Law

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2023 David Sive Award for Best Brief Overall

University of Florida Levin College of Law - Team 44
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Amanda Kohls, Bennett May, Julian Spiro
 

Best Brief for (FAWS)

University of Maine School of Law - Team 20
Best Brief for Fartown Association for Water Safety
Ben Algeo, Shannon Linnehan, Edward Simpson

Best Brief for (BELCO)

Duke University School of Law - Team 43
Best Brief for Better Living Corporation
Maia Foster, Emma Shahabi, Melissa Skarjune

 ● ● ●

Click here for Oral Argument Procedure

Click here for Preliminary round judging form

Click here for quarter-final and semi-final round judging form

Click here for winner designation form

Click here for Judge Evaluation form for Competitors
 

Click here for the background and history of the original "Dawn-Storm King" watercolor painting. The painting is exhibited each year by the winning school of the competition.  

Here is link to view  previous competitions (2011-present):  https://law.pace.edu/previous-competitions

The winning briefs can be found in our library research guide:  http://libraryguides.law.pace.edu/nelmcc