DETROIT (Nov. 25, 2008) - Wayne State University Law School congratulates the winning team of Alicia Birach and Lauren Andary for an impressive performance in the final round of arguments in the Arthur Neef Moot Court Competition on Nov.13, 2008. The event was held at the Supreme Court of Michigan in Lansing.

Birach and Andary argued against the team of Nameer Kajy and Awan Mukhtar. Two criminal issues were argued: the first addressed whether the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Mapp v. Ohio should be overturned, dealing with the viability of the exclusionary rule in criminal proceedings. The second issue questioned whether the admission of a DNA analysis report violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation when the individual who performed the laboratory test did not testify and was not available for cross-examination.

"It was an honor to work with these students, and I am so proud of their achievements in this competition," said Wayne Law Visiting Professor Richard Broughton, who assisted in coaching the Moot Court team. "The students worked hard to develop the best arguments on all sides of some very important, and very complicated, constitutional problems, and demonstrated impressive advocacy skills. They, and the entire Moot Court program, are a credit to the Wayne Law community."

The final round judges were Justices Marilyn Kelly and Stephen Markman of the Michigan Supreme Court, Judges Alton Davis, Peter O'Connell and Patrick Meter of the Michigan Court of Appeals, Wayne Law Professor Peter Henning, and Jon Marko, law clerk to Justice Kelly. The Law School is grateful for their efforts.

The Law School's Moot Court program has helped students perfect their oral and written advocacy skills at the appellate level since 1949. The Arthur Neef Competition is an annual competition the Law School's Moot Court holds for its junior members. There are four in-house rounds with 18 teams of two participating. Eight of those teams are chosen to advance to the quarterfinals, and then narrowed to only four teams for the semifinals.

Wayne State University Law School has educated and served the Detroit metropolitan area since its inception as Detroit City Law School in 1927. Located at 471 West Palmer Street in Detroit's re-energized historic cultural center, the Law School remains committed to student success and features modern lecture and court facilities, multi-media and distance learning classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, and the Arthur Neef Law Library, which houses one of the nation's 40 largest legal collections. Taught by an internationally recognized and expert faculty,

Wayne Law students experience a high-quality legal education via a growing array of hands-on curricular offerings, five live-client clinics, and access to well over 100 internships with local and non-profit entities each year. Its 11,000 living alumni, who work in every state of the nation and more than a dozen foreign countries, are experts in their disciplines and include leading members of the local, national and international legal communities. For more information, visit www.law.wayne.edu.