Thomas Holmgren

Thomas Holmgren (Of Counsel-New York, NY), who has remained involved with his undergraduate and law schools through various mentoring programs, has founded a moot court competition program for Hartwick College, for which he currently serves as director.  More than 60 students were paired for the competition in its first year.  After completing a seminar Thomas hosted on the nuts and bolts of moot court, the law at issue, and oral advocacy in general, the students were provided with one trial court decision and one appellate court decision, and a closed universe of cases from which to create their arguments. The teams were then provided the opportunity to argue before panels of practicing attorneys from across the country.

“Moot Court is a fixture of law schools, but they very rarely exist at the undergraduate level,” said Holmgren. “I really wanted Hartwick students to have a practical opportunity to perform in a quasi-legal setting, where they would have a chance to learn not only a little about the law but also how to think more critically and creatively, be forced to argue both sides of real legal issues, and develop oral advocacy skills in the process.” Holmgren donated a $4,000 cash prize for the winning team and a best oralist award in honor of two of his former professors.

Many of the competitors, and in some instances their parents, reached out to Hartwick and Thomas to thank them for this opportunity and to remark that the competition was a transformative part of their college experience. Holmgren has plans to make the competition a biannual event at Hartwick, which should help the school market to prospective applicants who are considering a career in law as well as help with alumni engagement.