Albany Law School

The Gabrielli Competition gives second-year students at Albany Law School the opportunity to practice written and oral advocacy skills in an intramural competition. The subject matter for the competition encompasses a broad range of current issues of social and legal importance.

2012-2013 Committee:

Matthew L. Tulio, Competition Chair

Jazmin N. Vargas, Competition Associate

Prof. Rosemary Queenan, Faculty Advisor

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Overview of Competitions Requirements:
Eligibility: All second-year Albany Law students who have completed Introduction to Lawyering and have a GPA of 2.0 or above may participate in the Competition.

Team Organization: Participants may choose their own partners and team members cannot be changed after the final date for submission of briefs, except under exceptional circumstances.

Brief: Each team must prepare one appellate brief. The case record is clearly divided into two separate issues for ease of dividing work.

Oral Arguments: Each team must argue in two preliminary rounds for a maximum of 24 minutes, with each individual required to argue at least 10 minutes.

2012 Competition Results:

2012 was another exceptional competition year with more than 23 teams in the competition.

This year's Final Round was held on Tuesday, November 13, 2012, where the competitors argued the following issues: 

​​​​-Whether the Trial Court erred in denying the motion to suppress the handgun.

-Whether the Trial Court erred in admitting specific testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence 701, which controls the admittance of lay testimony evidence and requires that the testimony must be rationally based on the witness' preception.

The Finalist teams argued in front of a panel of very impressive and skilled judges. The panel consisted of:  

The Hon. Margaret M. Cangilos-Ruiz, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of New York
The Hon. David N. Hurd, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
The Hon. Frederick J. Scullin, Jr., U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
The Hon. Gary L. Sharpe, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
Mellisa Breger, Professor of Law, Albany Law School

The Winners of the 2012 Gabrielli Appellate Advocacy Competition are:

Jaclyn Bunce '14 & Jocelyn McGrath '14!

Congratulations as well to the finalists,

Brynne Grady '14 & Jay Plumley '14!

(From Left) Champions Jaclyn Bunce '14 and Jocelyn McGrath '14​, Domenick L. Gabrielli Appellate Advocacy Competition Faculty Advisor Prof. Rosemary Queenan, Finalists Brynne Grady '14 & Jay Plumley '14

Additional 2012 Competition Results:

Best Oral Advocate:

3rd Place: Cheyenne James

Best Brief:

2nd Place: Carly Krall & Mary Ellen Nocero

3rd Place: Tom Buchan & Michael Zielenski

Semifinalists:

Quarterfinalists:

--Kelly Nadeau & Joshua Greenfield

--Cheyenne James & Kathleen Rivers

--Michael White & Keith Cronin

--Tyler Waterfield & Alana Brady

Octofinalists:

2011 Competition Results:

2011 was another exceptional competition year with more than 37 teams in the competition.

The 2011 Gabrielli competitors argued the following issues: 

​​​​-Whether the admitting of non-verbal blinking testimony ​fell under the 

"excited utterance" exception for hearsay under the Federal Rules of Evidence. 

-Whether or not the admittance of the evidence was proper under the 

Confrontation Clause of the United States Constitution's Sixth Amendment.

Congratulations to the 2011 Gabrielli Appellate Advocacy Champions Andrea A. Long & Michelle K. Mallette and Finalists Nadia I. Arginteanu & Mackenzie M. Keane!

The Finalist teams argued in front of a panel of very impressive and skilled judges. The panel consisted of:  

The Hon. Elizabeth A. Gary, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department
The Hon. David N. Hurd, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
The Hon. Thomas J. McAvoy, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
The Hon. Gary L. Sharpe, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York
Mary A. Lynch, Professor of Law, Albany Law School

Other Award Winners