One minute into Cary Aronovitz’s argument in a moot court competition, he was cut off by a question from none other than the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.

“I was anticipating that question, but it was probably the one question I didn’t want to answer,” said Aronovitz. “I got it out of my mouth. I saw him nodding and that was a big confidence booster.”

Confidence paid off for the Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Final Four competitors as Aronovitz, Kevin Combest, Robert Davis, and Tara Nelson argued a hypothetical case in front of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and three judges from the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on September 5 at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Aronovitz, son of former Florida Bar President Tod Aronovitz, won the best brief and best oral argument award, while Davis took home the best overall participant. Aronovitz and Combest won the competition for the petitioner, and Davis and Nelson argued for the respondent.

Every day since they learned they had made the final four, the law students prepared for hours, including enduring grueling questions from their professors that Combest described as “hard-hitting, adversarial, and trying to get us to screw up.”

Knowing the chief justice would be judging gave them an extra case of the jitters to overcome.

“The gravity of the situation added to the nerves,” Nelson said.

“Before I went out, we were all kind of sweaty palms, and we thought it was going to be nerve-racking,” Combest said. “But as soon as you get out there, he’s about as tall as you. He’s a regular guy.”

The case involved the constitutionality of the fictional State of Webb allowing a specialty license plate with the words “Choose Life,” without allowing a license plate with an opposing viewpoint.

Even though it was hypothetical, UF Law Professor Lyrissa Lidsky stressed it was an important case because Florida was the first state to have a “Choose Life” license plate, and Florida is considering a license plate with the words “I Believe” and a cross. South Carolina recently approved such a license plate, and a lawsuit has already been filed in the matter.

“This is a very important issue. It’s a hot issue. And some smart people in our intermediate appellate courts have split on the constitutionality of the issue,” Lidsky said.

When Aronovitz brought up lower circuit cases, Chief Justice Roberts took a playful jab at the three circuit court judges helping judge the moot court: Peter T. Fay, Susan H. Black, and Rosemary Barkett.

“We are not bound, of course, by what the circuit courts have to say,” Roberts said. “We don’t pay much attention to them.”

During Nelson’s argument, Chief Judge Fay addressed Chief Justice Roberts’ joke by saying: “Some of us want to pay attention to what those other judges write.”

The bench ruled for the petitioner, but the chief justice said all students performed well.

“We unanimously decided that there was not a bad one among them,” said Roberts, who also visited a couple of classes after the competition.

“That’s not always the case, so we appreciate very much, as we do in our day jobs, that a lot of work went into the presentations. Judges and justices are very grateful when that happens.”