A group of MSU law students sang their way to a national championship earlier this month.
The team of four gave a rendition of "Hello Again," a tune they picked up from Nick at Nite commercials, before beginning each round of the Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Securities Law Moot Court Competition, which took place at the Fordham University School of Law in New York.
Singing the song became a ritual to calm nerves that can arise in the stressful courtroom, said Brittain Bandura, the team's oralist and law student.
"The other team would be very serious and have their game face on when they came in," Bandura said. "We would joke around and sing songs to take the pressure off and take a deep breath. It got us to take a step back and say, 'Hey, this is supposed to be fun.'"
The group took first place in brief writing and in oral arguments, to defeat teams from 32 other law schools nationally.
"We were absolutely shocked when we won," said Michael Fawaz, the team's captain and MSU College of Law student. "We had worked so hard, but we were up against some tough teams. The final panel of judges were some of the most famous judges. It was incredible to argue in front of them."
The most "amazing" feeling was to argue in front of two 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges, including Richard Posner, Bandura said.
"He's kind of a god in the legal world," Bandura said. "To have him announce that MSU won was kind of surreal. It makes all the hard work worth it when you hear your name announced."
The MSU Moot Court is a student-run organization that practices law by arguing fake cases in competitions. At the Kaufman Competition, the students argued both sides of a fictional case involving a pharmaceutical company that allegedly violated a law.
Winning this competition is a testament to the students' skills and hard work, said Terence Blackburn, dean of the MSU College of Law.
"Students have to know the law on both sides of the case and articulate strong, clear arguments for each side," Blackburn said. "They must therefore have very strong advocacy skills and substantive knowledge of the law."
The students had to immerse themselves in research because only one member of the team had any prior knowledge of security law, Bandura said.
"It was really challenging to become comfortable with the terminology and just to get the big picture of security law when you know nothing about it," Bandura said. "It shows what extensive research can do."
Other members of the team included Michael Lufkin and Melissa Penrice, who could not be reached for comment.
