DETROIT (Nov. 20, 2009) - Wayne State University Law School congratulates second-year students Ruth Lyons and Anna Heinl on their winning performance in this year's Arthur Neef Moot Court Competition. Second-year students Tyler Roebke and Krista Elsasser placed second in the competition, which was held Nov. 5, 2009, at the Michigan Hall of Justice.

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 Moot Court Competition is an annual competition the Law School's Moot Court holds for its junior members. There are four in-house rounds with 20 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.

Each year, practicing lawyers, magistrates and judges stand in as Supreme Court Justices and critique the oralists. The final round judges this year were Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly, '71, and Judges Peter O'Connell, Elizabeth Gleicher, '79, William Whitbeck and Cynthia Stephens of the Michigan Court of Appeals.

"Ruth, Anna, Tyler and Krista did a terrific job in representing Wayne Law, our Moot Court program and themselves in this prestigious forum," said Matthew Penney, 2009-2010 Moot Court chancellor. "I believe the Chief Justice and Judges were universally impressed with both the quality of the arguments presented and the advocates' poise under sometimes extremely heavy questioning."

For more information regarding Moot Court, visit http://law.wayne.edu/mootcourt/index.php.

About Wayne Law
Wayne Law has served Michigan and beyond since its inception as Detroit City Law School in 1927. Located 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 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 faculty, Wayne Law students experience a high-quality legal education via a growing array of hands-on curricular offerings, 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, include leading members of the local, national and international legal communities. For more information, visit www.law.wayne.edu.