Fall 2009 2L/3L Competition

Morris Tyler Moot Court Finals December 7

The Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals at Yale will be called to order at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 7, in the Yale Law School Auditorium. Four students will compete in the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize Finals of the competition. Doors open at 4 p.m. A reception in the Alumni Reading Room will follow the competition.

The Honorable Judge Thomas L. Ambro of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Honorable Judge Barrington D. Parker of the Second Circuit, and the Honorable Judge Diane S. Sykes of the Seventh Circuit will hear the case of Skilling v. United States (poster), which is being argued before the Supreme Court this Term. The case involves an appeal from the criminal convictions of former Enron CEO Jeffrey K. Skilling on counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, making false representations to auditors, and insider trading. 

The questions presented are:

1)    Whether the federal “honest services” fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, requires the government to prove that the defendant's conduct was intended to achieve “private gain” rather than to advance the employer's interests, and, if not, whether § 1346 is unconstitutionally vague.

2)    When a presumption of jury prejudice arises because of the widespread community impact of the defendant's alleged conduct and massive, inflammatory pretrial publicity, whether the government may rebut the presumption of prejudice, and, if so, whether the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that no juror was actually prejudiced.

Ben Johnson ’10 and Alexander Schwab ’11 will argue for the petitioner, Jeffrey K. Skilling. Joshua Braver ’11 and David Zhou ’10 will represent the respondent, the United States. The competitors’ briefs will be posted on the moot court website approximately one week before the date of the oral argument. 

The decision below is reported at 554 F.3d 529 (5th Cir. 2009).

All 2L and 3L students are welcome and encouraged to participate in the Spring 2010 Moot Court competition.  For more information about the competition, please see the Moot Court organization page on the YLS Inside Site or contact Robert Heberle at robert.heberle@yale.edu.

The rules of the moot court competition are contained in the Competitors' Manual.