The best courtroom dramas are filled with suspense and have a good plot twist. Check and check for the drama that recently played out in the National Moot Court competition in New York City. “Yeah, it definitely feels surreal sometimes,” UNT Dallas College of Law student Victoria Saucedo said . Saucedo is part of the school’s Advocacy Team that recently competed against more well-known law schools, like Harvard. “I mean, we were looking at it like we get a free trip to Manhattan,” fellow Advocacy Team member Andrew Brown said. “When we made that first cut, my team was seeded 15th,” UNT Dallas College of Law Director of Advocacy Competitions Allie Van Stean said. “Which is how we ended up against the 2nd seed Harvard.” The Harvard Law team that pays more than $80,000 in tuition and fees/year, compared to less than $20,000 year for UNT Dallas College of Law. The North Texas school doesn’t have big-name alumni. Harvard has famous alumni that include former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama, and a long list of other notables. “Yeah, so we went against Harvard, like in the first, what you would call a knockout round,” Saucedo explained. “We were just confident in ourselves, and we had nothing to lose at that point,” Bown said. Enter the plot twist! “So we knocked Harvard out in the first break round. It was a pretty big upset,” Van Stean said. “It is not easy to do what they do, and I know how much work, effort, and dedication goes into this.” Van Stean, who is a professor at UNT Dallas College of Law, won the National Moot Court when she was a student at the same school. Her underdog Advocacy Team did not rest on their top 3 semifinalist medals. They went on to the National Appellate Advocacy Competition last weekend, and made it to the semi-finals, beating Yale and NYU in the process. “It just showed that we could stand up against these other institutions that have been around for a very long time,” Brown said. “You know, they may not think very highly of us, but we were still able to stand with them.” “I think they think they have some competition next time we show up,” Saucedo said, laughing. Brown said he hopes one day to argue before the Supreme Court. Both he and Saucedo have job offers stemming from their moot court competition experience waiting for them when they graduate later this year. ...read more read less