Last month, a team of Rutgers Law–Camden students, one of just two from the United States, traveled to Oxford University in the United Kingdom to compete in its prestigious international intellectual property moot court competition.
Comprised of 2Ls Carl Minniti, Brandon Theiss, and Ricky Brown, the team was selected during a record year of entries for the competition, becoming one of 24 teams to participate during the March 19, through March 21 event.
According to Theiss, the Rutgers Law–Camden team finished the international competition with a 2-2 record, with wins against Queensland (Australia) and National Law University Odisha (India), and losses against Cambridge (UK) and Queen Marry (UK).
The team’s coach and mentor William McNichol, an adjunct professor since 2000 and a leading member of the intellectual property bar for 30 years, offered his praise of the effort.
"I'm most impressed by the way that this trio of students sought out this challenge and successfully rose to it,” says McNichol. “They are the first Rutgers students to enter the competition at Oxford, and have set an example of initiative and scholarship for their fellow students." 
The experience provided the Rutgers Law–Camden team with a new understanding of their preparedness for this level of competition as well as a connectedness within a global legal community.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect on the ‘world stage’ but I think our style of presentation and overall case analysis was well received and more tuned than many of our peers in the competition,” says Brown. “In sum, I felt the competition was a great way to gauge my level of preparedness because we had the privilege of competing against a number of prestigious institutions and I hadn’t had much chance to test my intellectual property knowledge aside from interactions with my teammates.”
Theiss agrees that the novice Rutgers Law–Camden team was more than ready for the international competition. “As first-time participants for both the school and the individual mooters, we were concerned that we would be completely shown up,” acknowledges Theiss. “But we held our own and proved that Rutgers belongs with leading law schools around the world.”
The team credits its distinguished faculty advisors for helping them prepare for the competition. “While the team was disappointed to come home without a trophy, we take solace in the fact that as Rutgers Law students, we went toe to toe with some of the best universities in the world. This is surely due in part to certain professors whom have gone out of their way to cultivate our curiosity and Rutgers experience. Notably, Professors William McNichol, Sarah Ricks, and Michael Carrier have been pivotal figures in stoking the flames of our existing interest in all areas of intellectual property and litigation,” says Minniti.
Of course, traveling abroad also brought about new networking opportunities for the Rutgers Law–Camden students. What made the biggest impression on Brown was this overall feeling of camaraderie. “I expected it to be a rather adversarial experience,” he says. “However, even in the midst of argument everyone was extremely polite. In victory competitors were humble, in defeat genuine in their congratulations and happy for the experience. The sense of community is what makes me want to return the most in my 3L year.”
Perhaps another reason to return is the host city’s inspiring setting. Says Minniti, “Admittedly, while walking to the competition every morning, it was difficult not to think that people such as Richard Dawkins, John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, Christopher Hitchens, and Oscar Wilde walked those same streets. Oxford is a special city and I think all the participants respected and recognized it.”