Cooley students finish second in national Puerto Rican Bar moot court

Cooley Law School students reached the championship round of the National Puerto Rican Bar Association Moot Court Competition in September after preparing a federal appellate brief in just 13 days.

Cooley students Kimberly Ayala, John Johnson, and Dahlia Despradel advanced to the championship round of the National Puerto Rican Bar Association Moot Court Competition after receiving an invitation to participate just days after Cooley students completed the E. Earle Zehmer National Moot Court Competition in August.

With little time to prepare, Ayala, Johnson, and Despradel completed a federal appellate brief in just 13 days and prepared for oral arguments within 15 days. The competition presented students with a complex federal-law problem involving Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, known as PROMESA, and the Fifth Amendment.

Over the course of the competition, the Cooley team spent more than seven hours presenting courtroom arguments. The students advanced through four preliminary rounds and a quarterfinal round at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, before competing in the semifinal and championship rounds at Florida A&M University College of Law.

During its run to the final, Cooley defeated teams from the University of Illinois Chicago, two teams from Florida A&M University, and a coalition team representing the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law and Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Law. Cooley faced Barry University in the championship round, ultimately finishing runner-up in the national competition.

The team’s performance also resulted in an opportunity outside the courtroom. U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fl, invited Cooley’s team to Washington, D.C., as guests at a congressional hearing concerning Puerto Rico, with an opportunity to provide public comment on proposed legislation.

“This team accomplished something remarkable in an incredibly short period of time,” said co-coaches Daniel Cardwell and Elpiniki Roussos. “Kimberly, John, and Dahlia took on a complicated constitutional issue, prepared a federal appellate brief in less than two weeks and then successfully argued their way to the championship round. The invitation to Washington provides them with another extraordinary opportunity to take the advocacy skills they demonstrated in the courtroom and apply them to the legislative process.”

The competition problem examined Puerto Rico’s financial crisis, PROMESA and a property owner’s Fifth Amendment challenge involving increased taxation.

Zehmer National Moot Court Competition

Cooley’s success at the National Puerto Rican Bar Association competition followed a strong showing in August at the E. Earle Zehmer National Moot Court Competition.

The Zehmer competition featured 30 teams representing 15 law schools from across the country, including the University of Florida, Florida State University, University of Miami, Michigan State University, and William & Mary.

Cooley competitors included John Johnson, Kimberly Ayala, Shelby Tavares, Tyler Hernandez, Deidra Dennis, and Christian Legault. Brief writers were Gianfranco Villalba, Hannah McLaughlin, and Isabella Gentilozzi.

Cooley advocates Christian Legault and John Johnson advanced through the preliminary rounds to the "Sweet Sixteen," placing Cooley among the competition’s advancing teams before concluding their run against Michigan State University.

Earlier in 2026, a team of Tampa Bay campus students won the Robert Orseck Moot Court Competition, which brings together teams from Florida law schools during The Florida Bar Convention. Cooley students Isabel Zagazeta, Demitri Samarkos, and Carson Yonker captured the championship, with Yonker also being named the competition’s Best Advocate.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.