Congratulations to the Finalists of the Harlan Institute OT 2024 Virtual Supreme Court Competition

On May 1, 2025, the Harlan Institute held the championship round for the 13th Annual Virtual Supreme Court competition. The top two teams presented oral argument at the Georgetown Supreme Court Institute in the case of Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. Presiding were Judge Neomi Rao (U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit), Judge Royce Lamberth (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia), and Judge Matthew Solomson (U.S. Court of Federal Claims).

Noah Ha and Liam Aranda-Michel from Lake Oswego High School in Oregon represented the Petitioner. Lauren Hohlt & Caroline Ready from Creekview High School in Texas represented the Respondent. After a well-argued round, the judges selected the Respondents as the Champions, with Caroline Ready as best oralist.

You can watch the round here:

We are pleased to share these comments from our participants:

“Competing in the Harlan Institute’s Moot Court program for the past three years has been one of the most impactful experiences of my high school career. It has helped me grow tremendously in legal writing, public speaking, and critical thinking, while also deepening my passion for constitutional law. The opportunity to argue in Washington, D.C. for my final tournament was an unforgettable way to conclude my time with high school moot court . This program has given me a strong foundation in the Constitution and our legal system—one that I’ll carry with me as I continue on the path toward law school.”—Caroline Ready

“The Harlan Institute competition has been an incredible opportunity for me to explore the law and understand how it changes over time. By writing and presenting arguments on real cases currently before the Supreme Court, I learned to research deeply and stay informed on current events so I could answer any question a judge might ask. I started Harlan my freshman year where the competition was SFFA v. UNC considered the constitutionality of race-based admissions, to my sophomore year in arguing Moody v. Net Choice and considering whether a Florida Social media regulation complied with the first amendment, to my junior year where I worked on Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, focusing on Texas regulation of explicit websites. Along the way, I’ve learned so much from both student volunteers and experienced attorneys. Thanks to Harlan, I’ve become much stronger at building legal arguments and presenting them with confidence.”—Lauren Hohlt

“What sets the Harlan Institute apart from other moot court opportunities are the two factors that have the most impact on students’ experience in moot court: case quality and judge expertise. Since Harlan always uses a pending Supreme Court case and doesn’t limit students to a specific set of case materials, students are able to engage with the case at whatever level of experience they have, from beginner to expert. The quality of judges is exceedingly rare—not only are the judges familiar with the case law and facts, they have read the competitors’ briefs prior to oral argument—that is something unique to Harlan in the world of high school moot court tournaments. I really appreciate the opportunities Harlan Institute has brought to students across the nation.”—Jonathan Cartray, Coach of Creekview High School

My students have been participating in the Harlan Institute’s Virtual Supreme Court Challenge for years now and every time I am impressed by the depth and insight that the competition inspires. The Institute has great instincts in selecting real Supreme Court cases that hone into key Constitutional questions. The students then craft briefs and prepare oral arguments to compete against teams across the country. The ensuing online oral arguments are both rigorous while offering supportive critique and advice. The opportunity for high school students to compete at his level and outside of the classroom has been terrific. – Gerrit Koepping – Coach of Lake Oswego High School

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