Ames Moot Court Competition 2025

Video Description

The 2025 Ames Moot Court Competition Final Round took place on Nov. 17 in Ames Courtroom at Harvard Law School. This year, the esteemed panel of judges featured: Elizabeth Prelogar ’08, Solicitor General of the United States (2021-2025); Kevin Newsom ’97 of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; and Leondra Kruger of the Supreme Court of California. This year's fictional case was State of Ames v. Daniel Welles: "Daniel Welles is a serial entrepreneur whose ambition has always outstripped his ability. However, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, things appeared to be finally falling into place for him, as he had just finished converting an old gin distillery into a manufactory for hand sanitizer when the demand for hand sanitizer spiked. He was not, however, able to capitalize on his good timing. As part of the declaration of a public health emergency that accompanied the pandemic, the Governor of the State of Ames authorized the state hospital system to operate Welles’ equipment for the State’s public benefit. "His equipment was returned to him, after the public health emergency ended, but his opportunity had passed. He was never paid for the use of his equipment, and Ames lacks either a statutory or common law mechanism for bringing a claim to rectify the taking of private property for public benefit. As a result, Welles sued Ames directly under the Fifth Amendment to the constitution, arguing that the Fifth Amendment provides its own cause of action for those seeking 'just compensation' and that it similarly effects a waiver of state sovereign immunity for such actions. The district court rejected both arguments and dismissed, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Ames Circuit reversed. "The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to resolve two questions: 1. Whether the Fifth Amendment creates a self-executing cause of action to redress an alleged taking. 2. Whether the Eleventh Amendment bars plaintiffs from seeking 'just compensation' directly under the Fifth Amendment from a State in federal court absent a waiver of sovereign immunity." The competing teams: The Charles Fried Memorial Team (respondent) • Nathalie Beauchamps • Joe Caplis • Joshua Grambow • Nicholas Nelson (oralist) • Paneez Oliai (oralist) • Coy Ozias Meet the Team: https://youtu.be/5NzJR87GE8U?si=l88m6XqQiJJ5tCO0 The William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. Memorial Team (petitioner) • Lev Cohen • Justin Curl • Sophie Li (oralist) • Sophia Loughlin • Sadie Statman • Gregory Terrell Seabrooks (oralist) Meet the Team: https://youtu.be/9hOb1rKcbbg?si=Gm0-qfKIK83_3UFM For full coverage of the 2025 competition, visit Harvard Law Today: https://hls.harvard.edu/today/ames-showcases-terrific-lawyers-in-the-making/ Watch past Ames competitions here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2q2U2nTrWq0nkcMz1SdTVz-9aGbAwcCR Learn more about the Ames Moot Court Competition, including an extensive archive featuring photos and video of Final Round competitions from 1974-present, on the Harvard Law School website: https://hls.harvard.edu/ames-moot-court/ Read more about the Ames Moot Court Competition Final Round on the Board of Student Advisers website: https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/bsa/final-round/