Two teams representing the Gonzaga University School of Law competed into the regional semifinals at the recent ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC).

The competition was held in Washington, D.C., March 5-7.

The team of Nicholas Grant, Katie McCloughlin, and Jennifer Jackson won Second Best Brief, said coach Pat Fannin.

"Going into the final day of competition, they were undefeated and were the second-seeded team," Fannin said. "They made it to the regional semifinal round, where they lost an extremely close split decision to the Duke team that eventually won."

The team performed well in the oral competition, as well, he said.

A team comprising Melissa Warburton, Emily Bushaw, and Dan Gividen won Fifth Best Brief, with Gividen winning Best Oralist Award for the second consecutive year.

"After going undefeated in the first three rounds, the team was ranked third entering the regional semifinals," Fannin said.

"Despite having a much higher total score than their competitors in the semifinals, they lost on ballots."

Under previous NAAC rules, total points would have decided the round in their favor, he said: "They have the honor of having the highest oral scores, brief scores and combined oral and brief scores in every round – including the one they lost.

"The brief scores are the best combined scores of any teams I can recall having coached in seven years," Fannin continued.

"By competing in the D.C. Region, their briefs were scored against some of the best law schools in the country. While the brief awards speak for themselves, their oral skills were equally amazing. At some point during the competition each one of these students was scored as the best oralist in the round by at least one judge."

With more than 110 ABA-accredited law schools and more than 180 teams competing in six regional competitions, NAAC is by far the largest law school moot court competition in the country.