The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law (Catholic Law) hosted the Seventh Annual Ellen A. (Nell) Hennessy Employee Benefits Moot Court Competition from Friday, March 1 to Saturday, March 2. This year’s Competition, the largest in the Competition’s history, brought fourteen teams from across the country together to hone their skills in employee benefits appellate advocacy. Named after the late Catholic Law alumna and employee benefits advocate Ellen “Nell” Hennessy ’78, the 2024 competition was jointly sponsored by Catholic Law and the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, Inc. (ACEBC). This year’s Competition was co-chaired by ACEBC Fellows Peter Stris, a partner at Stris & Maher, LLP, and Tess Gee, a partner at Miller & Chevalier Chartered.

Competing before ACEBC Fellows and other experienced employee benefits practitioners, the teams addressed current topics in employee benefits law through briefs and multiple rounds of oral argument. The highlight of the Competition was the final round, which featured two federal judges, a Congressman, and several prominent employee benefits practitioners, namely: Judge Patricia A. Millet of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Judge Joshua D. Wolson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 8th Congressional District; Phyllis C. Borzi ’78, former Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration; J. Mark Iwry, former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury; and W. Thomas “Tom” Reeder, Jr., former Director for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

The following schools competed in the Seventh Annual Ellen A. (Nell) Hennessy Employee Benefits Moot Court Competition:

• Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University 
• Baylor University School of Law
• The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
• Drexel University, Thomas R. Kline School of Law
• The George Washington University Law School
• Penn State, Dickinson Law
• Regent University School of Law
• University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
• Washington University School of Law, Washington University in St. Louis 
• William & Mary Law School

The Competition awarded the top teams and advocates at total of $4,500 in prizes with the support of several generous sponsors, including: Stris & Maher LLP (Presenting Sponsor); Miller & Chevalier Chartered (Saturday Award Ceremony Sponsor); Douglas Selwyn (First-Place Team Sponsor); O’Melveny & Myers LLP (Best Oralist & Brief Sponsor); and Practicing Law Institute (Bronze Sponsor).

Seventh Annual Ellen A. (Nell) Hennessy Employee Benefits Moot Court Competition Winners:

Several photos from the Opening Reception and Final Round