Rutgers Law National Appellate Advocacy Team (left to right): Patrick Vinchur (3L), Brian Clark (4LE) and Brendan Keane (3L)
Rutgers Law won the Brooklyn Regional of the American Bar Association’s National Appellate Advocacy Competition last weekend. Brian Clark (4LE), Brendan Keane (3L), and Patrick Vinchur (3L)—members of the school’s National Appellate Advocacy Team—bested a competitive field of 27 teams from 16 other law schools. The team will now compete in the national rounds of the competition next month, one of only 24 teams around the country to advance.
In addition to winning the regional competition with the team, Clark won the best advocate award out of more than 75 other advocates. The competition organizers noted that his average oral argument score was “the highest they’d ever seen on this coast.”
“Our performance has been the perfect culmination of my participation on the appellate team, which has taught me skills and techniques I’ll tack into practice,” Clark said.
Keane echoed that sentiment, “Arguing in front of seasoned practitioners while representing Rutgers was the most rewarding experience of my law school career. I can’t wait to represent Rutgers in the nationals.”
The team was evaluated on their U.S. Supreme Court brief and on their performances in five rounds of oral arguments against different teams and different panels of judges. The Rutgers team won each oral argument, beating out teams from Northeastern University School of Law, Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law, the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, and George Mason’s Antonin Scalia Law School.
This year’s problem involved an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that asked whether TSA screeners qualified under the Federal Tort Claims Act’s (FTCA) law enforcement proviso and whether TSA screeners who committed plausible constitutional violations exercised discretion under the FTCA’s discretionary function exception. The team collectively wrote a 50-page brief, which included thorough analyses of FTCA, Fourth Amendment, and qualified immunity precedents.
Throughout each round, the judges commended the Rutgers Law advocates’ passion and mastery of the case law. They further praised the advocates’ responsiveness to the bench’s questions and their ability to give cogent arguments. Here are some of the judge’s comments:
“You’d be great appellate lawyers before the Supreme Court.””The best team I’ve seen, and I’ve been doing this for 17 years.””I would be very impressed if any of you appeared before me.””I’ve only heard a few arguments where I’ve had my breath taken away. You were terrific.”
From left to right: team coach Willa Sweeney ’24, Vinchur, Keane, Clark, and team coach Stephen Marietta ’17
Stephen Marietta ’17, director of the appellate team, coached this winning team alongside Willa Sweeney ’24, a former appellate team member.
“This team put in an incredible amount of work to improve their advocacy skills,” Marietta said.
Sweeney added, “The poise with which Brian and Brendan delivered their arguments was on par with seasoned appellate practitioners. As a coach, I am incredibly proud to watch this team’s hard work pay off.”
This is the third time in nine years that Rutgers Law has advanced to the national rounds of the ABA Competition. Rutgers last advanced in 2022, where, under Marietta’s coaching, a Rutgers team earned a spot as one of 16 national octofinalists.
The team represents Rutgers Law in intermural appellate advocacy competitions around the country. Members are selected through a competitive process then immersed in an intensive advanced appellate advocacy training program to develop appellate advocacy skills, which includes Mastering Appellate Advocacy I and Mastering Appellate Advocacy II, and an extensive team practice program with individualized feedback. Since the appellate team was revamped several years ago, it has continued to raise Rutgers Law’s profile in appellate advocacy. Under Marietta’s direction, the team has become a model for training appellate advocates in written and oral advocacy. Other recent victories include the 2025 Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition and the 2024 Annual National Moot Court Competition in Law & Religion.
Many thanks to Sylvia Cohn ’81 for her generous support of the National Appellate Team and the Law School’s Appellate Advocacy program through the David and Albert L Cohn Appellate Advocacy Fund.