“All in all, Alaina and I had a fantastic time at Fordham's Kaufman Securities Moot Court Competition.  We are extremely proud to have upheld the tradition of Widener's Moot Court teams finding success, particularly in bringing home another Best Brief Award,” said Harrisburg student Jim Hoppenjans of the success he and teammate Alaina Schroeder enjoyed at the 35th Annual Irving R. Kaufman Memorial Moot Court Competition held at Fordham University School of Law from March 25th through the 28th.The Kaufman Memorial Moot Court competition is held each year in honor of Fordham alumnus Judge Irving R. Kaufman, who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The competition focuses on securities law and gives competitors the opportunity to practice their appellate advocacy skills before a diverse range of expert practitioners.“Winning the award for the Best Petitioner's Brief and achieving the overall highest brief score in the competition is really a tribute to the legal writing and research skills Widener has instilled in us,” said Alaina Schroeder. “Jim and I took a complicated area of law, in which we had no background, and successfully used the skills we learned in legal writing and research to produce a winning brief.  The fact that the Moot Court has now won three Best Brief awards in competitions over the last two years, really speaks volumes about our legal writing program,” she added.“We had a lot of help from the faculty here at Widener,” said Jim, adding, “Professor Barros gave us a quick overview of securities law before the moot court problem came out, which was immensely helpful.” Added Alaina, “Every single faculty member we asked to help us said yes. This type of dedication from the faculty is essential to advancing in a competition.”Both Jim and Alaina hope that Widener Law will continue to send teams in the future. “Finding such great success at a well-respected and competitive moot court competition really reinforces that Widener is truly an underrated school that, hopefully, others will soon find out for themselves,” concluded Jim. “Not only was the competition academically enriching, but it really was a lot of fun,” declared Alaina.The entire Widener Law Community congratulates Jim and Alaina on their wonderful accomplishment!