For the first time in eight years, Bronx Science has won the 2025 Moot Court championships. After four grueling rounds and competing against nine schools, the Bronx Science Moot Court team has learned that practice really can make perfect.
The team began practice on Wednesday, October 9th, 2024 and made their way to the Friedman Kaplan Law Firm. They spent weeks discussing a fictional case (written by law students) and whether a student’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated or not. “I think it is important for us to understand the law because it applies to us even though we are kids and, especially in a school-related case it is important for students to know their rights,” Amelia Khemani ’26, a member of the Moot Court team said when asked about the importance of understanding the law.
The team splits into four pods: plaintiff First Amendment, respondent First Amendment, plaintiff Fourteenth Amendment, and respondent Fourteenth Amendment. Within each pod, students analyze the case and form an argument to defend their side, using the Constitution and past cases.
The Moot Court booklets provide the teams with forty cases that have previously been interpreted by judges. These cases allow the team to establish a strong basis for their arguments, as they can attribute them to real cases. This is a sensitive time in our country for the Constitution as it is being fought against in ways we have not seen in decades. Educating high school students about the law is extremely prevalent and keeps our future generations aware of the values that our country was originally built on.
The big difference between Moot Court and Mock Trial is the way in which the case is argued. For Moot Court, the case already has an outcome and our job is to argue whether the court’s decision was lawful or not. For Mock Trial, we do not know the outcome.
Many team members see Moot Court as more rigorous than Mock Trial; the competition consists of performing a well structured, ten minute speech with a preponderance of evidence, examples, and case law. A panel of judges listens to your argument and may interrupt with questions when they deem necessary. A big part of Moot Court is learning how to improvise and think on your feet.“[Moot Court] teaches you really good public speaking skills that, especially when we go for college interviews or job interviews, will be very helpful,” Moot Court team member Evelyn Morris ’26 noted.
Each Moot Court team has four team members competing. It can sometimes be difficult to feel included when you are not the person competing. With this in mind, the current captains, Nava Litt ’25 and Augie Alexander ’25 have taken strides to ensure everyone knows that they are a valuable asset to the team. “I think that one of the things that I try to do to encourage everyone to participate is I make our practices very discussion-based, so it’s a lot about having a conversation and experimenting with new strategies and trying new things out,” Litt explained.
The next step is to start crafting arguments. “When formulating my argument I picked one main relevant case to build my speech around, inserting facts from other cases and persuasive reasoning into it. Either while researching or practicing, I would write down relevant questions and strategies to go over at the next week’s practice. A lot of the time I would reach out to specific team members for help with arguments I felt were weak or potential points I would have to dispute from an opposing team,” said David Katzman ’25.
A key factor of our team is teamwork and constant collaboration. Small but mighty, the nine-member team worked closely together and were each other’s biggest supporters. “People are willing to accept feedback; it’s never done; we’re always listening to each other and learning and constantly making our arguments better,” Khemani said. The team would even meet on weekends to perfect their cases. Katzman refers to a Sunday night practice as his favorite memory from the season. “The floor was completely empty apart from us, and as it was late into the rounds of competition, it was a very exciting atmosphere preparing for the challenge ahead.”
Along with teamwork, the Moot Court team prides themselves on realism and making their arguments as practical and easy to understand as possible. “As a competitor I am always focused on what is the reasonable, common sense, easy argument here?” Litt mentions. She believes that logic and simplicity led the team to victory.
The team members believe that this level of reasonability can always come from a key understanding of the case. Morris described her hardest round and noted that the most difficult part was being able to improvise and think on her feet. “I didn’t even look at my paper once! It was literally just a conversation between me and the judge and I thought that was really cool,” Morris recalled. “That’s when I realized that I loved Moot Court.”
Augie Alexander believes that this year was focused more on dedication. “Getting invested in what you’re doing leads to you doing more and doing more leads to getting better and that helps you to get more invested and it’s this great cycle of work ethic.” Alexander claims that the team’s ability to go above and beyond is attributed to their inevitable success.
But they could not have done it alone; Bronx Science’s Moot Court and Mock Trial team has been lucky enough to have incredibly knowledgeable lawyer coaches from Friedman Kaplan Law firm. “They led us in the right direction and gave us the materials we needed to succeed. ” Sadie Hargis ’26 said. “They definitely were one of the biggest reasons for our victory.”
“The lawyers who would help us already had prior knowledge of these cases and were able to help the team navigate nuances and difficult legal language found in them,” Katzman pointed out.
While some team members plan to pursue a career in law, the skills taught in Moot Court can be beneficial in any field. “I think if everyone did Moot Court, then arguments and discourse would be a lot more productive and civil, and I think a lot of people would be able to fight for what they believe in a lot better,” Alexander reflected. Moot Court requires much more than an understanding of the law; it requires a sense of empathy and consciousness to the world around us.
Winning the championship was not just about legal knowledge—it was also a test of endurance and resilience. Throughout the competition, team members had to maintain their composure under pressure, respond to tough questioning from judges, and adapt their arguments in real time. The ability to think quickly and defend their position with confidence was crucial to their success, proving that Moot Court is as much about mental agility as it is about legal expertise.
The championship win marks a significant moment for Bronx Science’s Moot Court and Mock Trial team, proving their dedication and perseverance. This victory not only solidifies their reputation as one of the top high school Moot Court programs in the city but also serves as a great reminder to all students. This team symbolizes hard work, and shows us all that it really does pay off.
As the team reflects on their hard-fought success, they recognize that Moot Court is more than just a competition—it is a platform for critical thinking, advocacy, and personal growth. Whether they go on to pursue law or other fields, the skills they have developed will serve them well in any path they choose. With this championship under their belt, Bronx Science’s Moot Court team is determined to continue its streak and further establish itself as a force to be reckoned with in the high school legal arena.
“Winning the championship taught me that it really does take a village. It takes the parent chaperones who helped make practices possible. It takes the lawyers who agreed to let us use their space and who guided us. It takes the teammates that worked together to help form a cohesive argument. Support matters,” Yyra Takat ’25 said.
For the first time in eight years, Bronx Science has won the Moot Court championships. After four grueling rounds and competing against nine schools, the Bronx Science Moot Court team has learned that practice really can make perfect.