State Bar of Michigan Moot Court competition sponsored by Butzel Long Hosted by Ave Maria School of Law

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Butzel Long was the sponsor of the Annual State Bar of Michigan Moot Court competition November 11-12, 2005 at Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor. The competition involved a cutting-edge trade secret topic, selected by Butzel Long attorney and shareholder Carey DeWitt.

Specifically, the competition involved two questions relating to the alleged misappropriation of trade secrets under the Uniform Trade Secret Act. The competing students, organized into teams representing various Michigan Law Schools, presented briefs and oral arguments addressing the question of whethera “memorized” customer list misappropriated by a former employee could be the subject of trade secret protection under the Uniform Trade Secret Act. Second, the competitors argued the issue of what remedy was appropriate presuming the Court found a violation of the trade secret rights of the former employer, a fictitious company, “Wild Frontier Wireless Communications, Inc.”

According to Butzel Long attorney Ian Northon, the competition was a thorough test of written and oral advocacy in which the competitors were required to perform in a multi-round examination of their developing advocacy skills, including answering difficult real-world questions about the hypothetical legal case.

An experienced panel of judges, led by the Honorable Brian Zahra of the Michigan Court of Appeals and Mr. DeWitt, heard oral arguments, reviewed written briefs submitted by the competitors, and judged the teams’ overall advocacy skills. Butzel Long provided 15 judges for the Competition including several from its Trade Secret/Non-Compete Practice Group including Angela Boufford, Jim Boutrous, Lori Burke, Jeremy Chisholm, Regan Dahle, Bert Donovan, Katherine Goudie, Mark Heusel, Phil Korovesis, Mark Laidlaw, Eric Mathis, Bryan Proctor and Mark Zietlow. Tamara York of the Michigan Supreme Court, José Bartolomei of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C., and Davis Tyner of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals along with many other volunteers from the State Bar, helped judge the oral arguments. A team from Ave Maria School of Law placed first overall. BarBri donated a $2,500 Scholarship to be shared by championship team members Allison Clements, Judith Gallagher and Kevin O’Neill. The runner-up was a team from University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Teams from Wayne State University School of Law and Thomas M. Cooley Law School. rounded out the semifinal rounds. A team from Thomas M. Cooley Law School earned the Best Brief award. The second place brief went to a team from Ave Maria School of Law and the third place brief was awarded to a team from University of Detroit Mercy. Individual honors for Best Oralist went to a student from Ave Maria School of Law. The second place oralist also was from Ave Maria School of Law and the third place oralist was a student from Wayne State University Law School.

Butzel Long was established in 1854 and is headquartered in Detroit. Butzel Long is one of Michigan's oldest and largest law firms, with 215 attorneys and offices in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Holland, Mich., Washington, D.C. and Boca Raton, Fla., as well as Alliance offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China. The firm represents clients from diverse industries on a regional, national and multi-national level and is the sole Michigan member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 161 independent law firms. Visit the Butzel Long website at www.butzel.com.

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Media Contact: Maribeth Farkas at Caponigro Public Relations Inc., (248) 355-3200.