By Nefertari Elshiekh, staff writer

The Moot Court team recently competed in their first competition of the season at Fordham University and took home first place. They will be advancing to the next competition, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, November 30.

Social Studies teacher Siobhan Brand serves as the advisor of the team. She was also a  former law teacher at Francis Lewis High School. The students on the team work closely with Ms. Brand to receive training from lawyers at KMZ Rosenman Law Firm in Manhattan.

At the latest competition, students had to argue a fictional legal case regarding freedom of speech and press. The first school Townsend Harris competed against was Francis Lewis High School.

Senior Navpreet Kaur, who joined Moot Court for the first time this year, was a spectator at the competition. She believed the Moot Court team won because “the team just gets along really well with each other, and they were well prepared.” She highly encouraged people to try Moot Court because it is a “great experience.”

Social Studies teacher John O’Malley, who assists with the Moot Court team and had been the advisor of the team in the past, was also a spectator at the competition. He commented that the students on the team expressed themselves in an “eloquent and professional manner.” He even mentioned that the judges, who are Fordham University law students, said that the Townsend students argued as well, if not better than, some Fordham law students.

While Navpreet joined Moot Court because she was interested in law, she said, “you do not have to want to pursue a law career to join.” Mr. O’Malley explains that Moot Court “helps students with public speaking and seeing both sides of an argument, which will help prepare them for both college and life.”

Navpreet concludes, “We are all very excited for our upcoming competition and are preparing very hard for it.”