Bentley semi-finalists Shaun Boedicker and Puja Shah

One of the four Bentley teams that competed in the Eastern Regional Moot Tournament of the American Collegiate Moot Court Association (AMCA) in November advanced to the national tournament slated for January 2010 in New Orleans. The advancing team of Bentley seniors Puja Shah and Shaun Boedicker was among 40 teams that competed in the regional competition. The Bentley team of senior Monil Kothari and junior Will Markow has been placed on a reserve list of teams at the nationals.

This is the second time in four years that a Bentley team reached the semi-finals of the regional tournament, and the third time in four years that Bentley teams have qualified for the national tournament.

The Moot Court competition requires students to simulate a legal argument before hypothetical appellate courts. At the regionals, all four Bentley teams advanced to the second day of competition. The two other Bentley teams competing were seniors Christina Harstad and Julia Brodowski; and junior Sindhu Panaliappan and sophomore Alexis Lawlor.

Will Markow was recognized as one of the top ten best orators at the regional competition. Markow and teammate Kothari were invited to participate in a moot court demonstration argument at the Annual Meeting of the Northeast Political Science Association at the Parker House Hotel in Boston in November

The Bentley team is coached by Franklyn P. Salimbene, senior lecturer in law. Judith Malone, Bentley general counsel, and Anton Sadovnikov, Bentley grad student and former moot team member, assisted by judging practice rounds of oral argument. 

Other schools that participated in the competitive regional tournament included Holy Cross, Princeton, Syracuse, Bentley, College of New Jersey, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Albany, Patrick Henry College, Bridgewater State, Merrimack College, and Fitchburg State.