Stetson captures Tax Section’s 2025 National Tax Moot Court crown
Stetson Law Moot Court team members Mia Bartolomei-Negron and Eddie Hong with Stetson Law Associate Professor Andrew Appleby. Bartolomei-Negron and Hong took top honors in the Tax Section’s 2025 National Tax Moot Court Competition, winning Best Oral Argument, Best Brief, and Best Oralist Final Round (tied).
After three days of competition featuring teams from law schools across the nation, Stetson University College of Law emerged as the overall champion in the Tax Section’s 2025 National Tax Moot Court Competition, sweeping the event with top honors in Best Oral Argument, Best Brief, and Best Oralist Final Round.
Stetson Law team members Mia Bartolomei-Negron and Eddie Hong took home the Best Oral Argument and Best Brief awards and tied for Best Oralist Final Round. University of Alabama School of Law’s Carly Horner earned Best Oralist for the Preliminary Rounds. Marquette University Law School’s team — Josh Peterson, Nolan Ryan, and Taylor Humphrey — finished as finalists in the Best Oral Argument category.
The 2025 competition took place from March 6–8 at Stetson Law in Gulfport.
The Tax Section has hosted the moot court competition for more than three decades, recognizing the role such events play in training and advancing the nation’s next generation of tax attorneys. The national competition offers law students an opportunity to demonstrate and sharpen their skills while networking with tax attorneys and members of the judiciary.
“This competition is about more than winning,” said Eric Allen Kauk, a co-chair of the 2025 National Tax Moot Court Competition. “Moot court competitions like this one provide a practical, simulated courtroom setting that helps students hone essential legal skills like research, writing, and oral advocacy. These experiences build confidence and prepare students for successful real-world legal careers.”
The 2025 competition attracted 12 teams from 12 law schools across the nation. Tax Section members Eric Kauk and Alexandra Prati co-chaired this year’s event. Section members Mitchell Horowitz and Justin Wallace coordinated with Prati and a team of volunteers from the Tax Section to write and edit the competition’s problem and bench brief. Volunteer attorneys judged the briefs and the oral arguments and United States Tax Court Chief Special Trial Judge Lewis R. Carluzzo, Judge Tamara W. Ashford, and Judge Peter J. Panuthos judged the consolation finals and final rounds.
Final results from the 2025 National Tax Moot Court Competition:
Best Oral Argument—Stetson University College of Law, Mia Bartolomei-Negron and Eddie Hong
- Finalist—Marquette University Law School, Josh Peterson, Nolan Ryan, and Taylor Humphrey
- Third Place—IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Giovani Murtha, Bryce Hull, and Joshua Brandle
- Fourth Place—Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Stuti Joshi, Kara Coxe, and Laurel Campbell
Best Oralist, Preliminary Rounds—Carley Horner, University of Alabama School of Law
Best Oralist, Final Round (tie)—Mia Bartolomei-Negron and Eddie Hong, Stetson University College of Law
Best Brief—Stetson University College of Law, Mia Bartolomei-Negron and Eddie Hong
