Columbia Law School - Kent Commentaries Yearbook (New York, NY)

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,.. i BERNARD CHAZEN First Vice Chairman H. DONALD WILSON Second Vice Chairman MOOT Court work in recent years has been marked by a very high rate of student participa- tion, as well as continuous efforts to make the conduct of the appellate arguments more efficient and more realistic. The increase in interest resulted in the addition of seven new courts to the system in July 1946, making a total of fifteen: Andrews, Blackstone, Bramwell, Burdick, Campbell, Cardozo, Crane, Dwight, Hamilton, Holmes, Hughes, Lehman, Marshall, Taft and Temple. A school-wide referendum in November, 1946 re-affirmed the policy of assigning students to courts by impar- tial allotment. About 85W of the student body are now members of a Moot Court. Over the past year an average of 140 students took arguments each semester. The Moot Court Committee, the governing body of the system, was headed in the Win- ter of 1947 by Richard W. Blum. Past Chairmen have included Peter D. Andreoli, in the Winter and Spring terms of 1946-47, and Charles D. Kuhnen, in the Summer of 1947. The activities of the Committee have included shifting from the use of statements of facts to the use of transcripts of actual trial records, developing better procedures for the form of the brief and for grading arguments, and holding dinners for the judges and 'bailiffs on the nights of arguments. The Committee has obtained many prominent judges for the trials, including such members of the bench as the Hon. Stanley H. Fuld, Hon. Bernard L. Shientag and Hon. Simon H. Rifkind. The Harlan Fiske Stone Competition, which was discontinued during the war, was revived in December, 1947. As a result of having the best records of all the courts for the previous two semesters Blackstone and Bramwell were chosen to compete. ln a well presented and closely contested argument held at the House of the Bar Association of the City of New York before a bench consisting of Honorable Robert P. Patterson, former Secretary of War, Honor- able Henry W. Edgerton, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals, Washington, D. C.g and Honorable Charles E. Wyzanski, Jr., Judge of the United States District Court for Massachu- setts, Blackstone Moot Court was declared the winner. Crane Moot Court and Bramwell Moot Court were chosen to participate in the Stone Competition to be held in the spring of 1948. A Moot Court argument was held with the Yale University School of Law in November, 1947, which it is hoped will be the forerunner of similar activities. ln December, 1947 the Faculty decided to award point credit to students who par- ticipate in two Moot Court arguments. At the same time the Faculty decided to pay officers of the Moot Court committee for their work in administering the Moot Court system. The Fac- ulty approved the establishment of a student board to prepare records for use in arguments, act as judges and evaluate Moot Court work. MOOT COURT COMMITTEE Seated: Warren Freedman, Stanley Seigel, H. Donald Wilson, Second Vice Chairman, Richard Blum, Chairmang Bernard Chazen, First Vice Chairman, Richard Valentine, Treasurer, Mason Salisbury, Secretary. Standing: Elmer Maddy, Howard TaubenfeId,aRichard Wierum, Allan J. Parker, Albert l. DaSilva, Roberta Leighton, Joseph Clifford, A. Christie, Robert Powers, Jacob Cohen.

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THE i948 Kent Commentaries is the third issue of the Law School yearbook. The only non-scholastic magazine in the Law School, it is edited and published by the graduating class. The magazine was first published in l938, and again in l94l. After the lapse of seven years, the present' graduating class, the first completely post-war class, decided to continue its publication. Through the encouragement and cooperation of Dean Smith, and the invaluable advice and assistance of Professor Gifford, the tremendous task of organizing a completely new staff, preparing assignments and copy, and finally publishing the magazine was accomplished with little Editorial Director Blaustein, Editor Carr, disorganization and trouble Business Manager Linsner. ' To make Kent Commentaries all inclusive, all classes graduating in I948, due to the accelerated program, are included. It is hoped that the continuance of the publication will lead to its issuance each year by the then graduating class. Seated: Lester E. Rothstein, Photography Editor, Irving Schreiber, Circulation Manager, John G. Linsner, Business Manager, Joseph P. Carr, Editor-in-Chief, Albert P. Blaustein, Editorial Director, James E. Rizzuto, Advertising Manager, Howard S. Kaplan, Associate Editorial Director. Standing: Andrew C. Goodhope, Editorial Associate, David G. Sacks, Business Staff, Martin Markowitz, Business Staff, Robert E. lsner, Business Staff, William M, Kunstler, Editorial Associate, Theodore R. Jackson, Business Staff, Howard J. Taubenfeld, Busi- ness Staff, Kenyon Roberts, Editorial Associate, Peter Spitz, Editorial Associate, Anthony L. Mondello, Activities Editor, Michael A. Schwartz, Business Staff, Warren L. Schnur, Features Editor, Joseph J. Magrath, Business Staff. 77

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