Students Compete in Moot Court Competition

The University of Kentucky College of Law Moot Court team competed with 14 other schools during the Earle E. Zehmer Moot Court Competition held in Orlando, Florida August 19-21. UK's team was comprised of third year law students, Laken Gilbert of Fleming County, Ky., and Courtney Rosser of Maysville, Ky. While the team was able to argue twice, they were eliminated before moving into a top eight spot. Professor Paul Salamanca served as the faculty sponsor for this competition.

The Workers’ Compensation Institute hosted the event. Gilbert and Rosser had to argue a fictitious case involving the compensation of a 17-year-old baseball prodigy who was severely injured during his first major league game. The baseball player suffered an amputation to his arm after being shot by someone in the crowd. The women argued four issues. Rosser says she argued, “…an issue regarding a choice of law provision in the contract that was signed.” She also argued the issue regarding whether or not the player’s injury “arose out of and in the course of his employment.” Gilbert focused on “whether he had an average weekly wage and, if so, whether income benefits should be offset against his contractual benefits for the first 26 weeks.” Both women said they worked together a lot over the summer researching and planning their arguments both for and against the case.

“This competition was a very valuable experience,” says Gilbert. “I hope to practice workers' compensation law and this experience gave me insight in multi-state workers' compensation laws. Additionally, this experience helped me hone my research, writing, and oral advocacy skills before actual judges from across the nation.” Gilbert also said this competition provided network opportunities for her and, “solidified my passion for workers' compensation law and increased my understanding and appreciation of the role it plays in protecting American workers.”

“I decided to do the rebuttal and was personally called out during our critique for having an excellent rebuttal,” said Rosser. “This experience in particular helped build my confidence, as well as my skill set, for my future practice.”