Hon. Milton Mollen Competition

Before a nearly full gallery in the Moot Court Room and a panel of distinguished jurists, four of the top 2L oral advocates of the St. John’s University School of Law Moot Court Honor Society argued to the Supreme Court of the United States the case of Gloria Esteban v. Old York University at the annual Hon. Milton Mollen Competition.

Advocating for the free speech rights of the petitioner were Christopher Hunker and Christine Gulino, who argued that the $200 restriction on campaign spending imposed on candidates by the University was a violation of Ms. Esteban’s rights and unreasonable under the Supreme Court’s “forum analysis”. Defending the practices of the University as reasonable restrictions considering the nature of the forum were Danelco Moxey and Eric Greenbaum.

While the advocates manifested the impressive oral advocacy skills they learned from Judge Gerald Lebovits and honed in recent internal competition rounds, they faced a hot bench of seasoned judges who themselves have impressive records as advocates.
Chief Justice Milton Mollen (’50) – the retired presiding justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Department – asked each competitor multiple questions that frequently required impromptu responses.

Joining Justice Mollen on the bench were two other well-known and highly respected judges from the federal bench, Hon. Joseph Bianco of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and Hon. P. Kevin Castel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. During their closing comments, Judge Castel remarked that Judge Bianco was “throwing his high-heat” at the competitors, prompting Judge Mollen to note that Judge Castel did his part to keep the advocates on their toes. All the judges agreed that the program continues to improve and that the competitors are on par with attorneys who present oral argument in the state and federal courts.

When the arguments were over and the rebuttal presented, the judges retired to chambers to deliberate briefly. The result of the deliberation was a 2-1 vote in favor of the respondent Old York University, with best oral advocate going to Danelco Moxey and second best advocate going to Christopher Hunker. All the competitors received BarBri certificates. Additional awards were given for the Tinnelly Competition, which led to the ultimate selection of the finalists.
The Law School’s Acting Dean, Andrew Simons, who attended the event along with the St. John’s University Provost Dr. Julie Upton, gave a final statement thanking the panel for their time and service and congratulated the Moot Court Honor Society once again on its hard work and successful production of the Mollen Competition for a second year.