Law students and other community members had the opportunity to see Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson live for two back-to-back events, a rare opportunity that packed the Henry J. and Gloria Caruso Auditorium on Jan. 30.
Jackson presided over the final round of the Vincent S. Dalsimer Moot Court Competition — alongside Circuit Judge Holly A. Thomas and U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris — before Caruso Dean Paul Caron hosted her for an hour-long conversation about her life and career.
“By hearing from diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, we embrace our calling to uncompromised academic rigor and Christian values,” said Arnold Barba, associate dean for professional development.
Dalsimer Moot Court Competition
After nearly a week of competition, two teams of two faced off in the final round of the 52nd annual Dalsimer Moot Court Competition, a spring-semester opportunity for 2L and 3L Caruso students to practice arguing before a simulated appellate court, according to Pepperdine’s website. The finalists were 3Ls Megan Hoefs and Isaac Zwerling, who argued on behalf of the petitioner, and 2L Tasha Spear and 3L Dillon Johnson, who argued on behalf of the respondent.
Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Sandra Day O’Connor, Samuel Alito, Byron White, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Roberts have each presided over previous moot court competitions, including but not limited to the Dalsimer competition. according to Pepperdine’s website. Last September, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan presided over the final round of the law school’s Armand Arabian Advocacy Tournament, according to a Pepperdine press release.
Law students queue in front of the Henry J. and Gloria Caruso Auditorium shortly before doors opened to the moot court event Jan. 30. Heavy security was present around the events. Photo by Henry Adams
Jackson’s appearance incidentally means every current Supreme Court Justice has appeared at a Caruso event. Sonia Sotomayor and Brett Kavanaugh have both spoke at the Byrne Judicial Clerkship Institute, and Neil Gorsuch was a guest in 2019 for the Dean’s Speaker Series, according to Pepperdine’s website.
Law Professor Jeffrey Belton and California attorney Mark Abell wrote the problem, which involved a dispute between two fictional companies: a tribally chartered farm business called Badlands Tatanka Cooperative LLC and Bison Burgers Inc., according to the competition problem. After a disease outbreak among the Badlands’ bison, Bison Burgers suffered financial losses and sued Badlands for contract breach.
Before the simulated Supreme Court, student competitors argued over complex legal questions arising from Badlands’ tribally chartered status, including whether the business is an arm of a tribe in the first place.
Under the competition rules, each competitor was allocated 15 minutes for argumentation. Zwerling reserved two minutes for a rebuttal at the end of the round.
Over the next hour, the finalists presented their arguments before the prestigious panel of three judges. Jackson was the most frequent speaker among the panel, asking questions just as she would while on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States.
After spending nearly 20 minutes adjourned, the panel returned to deliver individual feedback to the finalists.
During feedback, Judge Saris said Johnson had the “toughest case,” but made his argument with “gusto.” The panel questioned the respondents more than the petitioners throughout the competition.
After the panel gave feedback, Jackson announced Hoefs and Zwerling’s team as the competition’s winners, with each of them awarded a $1,000 cash prize. Both members of the second-place team were awarded $250. Jackson said it was “not an easy decision” to determine the winner.
“Both sides were excellent,” Jackson said. “Really thoughtful presentation, good skills with respect to focusing on particular cases, memorizing the legal standards and really having a great command of the record.”
In addition, 2L Rachel Ryan won $2,500 for the first place best oral advocate award and Spear won $1,000 for writing the best brief.
Dean’s Speaker Series
After a short break, attendees returned to hear a conversation between Jackson and Caron about Jackson’s life, career and memoir. Jackson changed from her court attire into a blue blazer for the hour-long conversation.
Jackson began by reading a portion of the preface from her 2024 memoir, “Lovely One,” before sitting down to speak with Caron. Jackson’s husband, Patrick, and their daughter, Talia, both sat toward the front left of the auditorium.
Caron began the conversation by asking Jackson to list the three most important things in her life. Jackson said her family, faith and work were her top three.
“My family is such an important source of strength and courage and encouragement for me,” Jackson said.
Jackson also spoke about President Joe Biden appointing her to the Supreme Court of the United States in 2022.
“I was the first Black woman to ever have this opportunity, and it’s not because I was the first Black woman who could have got this job,” Jackson said.
Referring to an anecdote written in her memoir, Caron asked Jackson about an incident during her time at Harvard University when a student hung a Confederate flag in his window, which overlooked a part of campus Jackson said many Black students lived in. After members of the school’s Black Students Association protested it, Jackson noticed her peers were missing class or not getting their work done in order to focus on the effort.
Upon connecting the efforts to a quote by author Toni Morrison, in which Morrison said “the very serious function of racism is distraction,” Jackson said she spoke up at one of the Association’s meetings.
“I gave the quote, and I think it was a really sobering moment for me and a lot of the students, who realized that what we really needed to do was continue to focus on our studies, do the best we could in school, because failing out was the kind of thing that the person who does this [hangs a Confederate flag] would want to have happen,” Jackson said.
Caron ended the event by presenting three questions submitted by law students during registration for the event. Students asked Jackson about her most meaningful experiences, advice she would give her younger self and how she would like to be remembered in history.
Jackson said she would like to be remembered as an effective communicator and a hard worker. She referenced an article she recently read about a person walking through an ancient cemetery and noticing a tombstone that read something along the lines of, “Here lies Mary. She did what she could.” After the audience laughed, Jackson said she appreciated the message on the epitaph.
“That would be great,” Jackson said. “To be remembered for doing what you could, right? I feel like I can do a lot. A lot has been given to me, and I want to do everything I can. That would be a great way to be remembered.”
After the event, attendees almost immediately formed a line to buy autographed copies of Jackson’s memoir in the Lon V. Smith Atrium.
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