Anheuser-Busch Press Releases

At the annual installation banquet of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) held in Dallas, Texas, on November 13, 2004, the NAPABA Law Foundation announced the winners of the Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition. The competition is a tribute to the late Judge Thomas Tang who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit from 1977 to 1995. A champion of individual rights and an advocate for the advancement of minorities in the legal profession, Judge Tang was one of the first Asian Americans appointed as a federal judge.

This year’s timely and creative moot court problem dealt with constitutional challenges to the USA PATRIOT ACT where an attorney and a paralegal were charged for providing communications equipment, training, personnel and expert advice to a terrorist organization for teaching humanitarian law and mediation techniques to that organization. The moot court problem was drafted by Ms. Natsu Taylor Saito, a law professor (on leave) from Georgia State University Law School and professor of ethnic studies from the University of Colorado and by Ms. Lucy Martin from Georgia State University Law School. Their efforts resulted in a problem and set of issues that challenged the competitors as well as their judges.

71 teams from law schools throughout the country participated in this year’s competition. The winners and runner-ups of the six regional competitions met in the national competition at the NAPABA annual convention in Dallas from November 11 through 13. The final two teams argued before the Honorable Jerry Buchmeyer, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the Honorable Denny Chin, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Honorable Ronald Lew of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and Chief Justice Linda Thomas and Justice David Chew, both of the 8th District Court of Appeals, Texas.

This year, the winners are Bonnie Lau and Mervyn Deganos of the University of California College of Law at Hastings, each of whom received a $2,000 scholarship. The runner-ups, each of whom received $1,000 scholarships, are Valerie Garcia and Zheng Lu of Chicago-Kent College of Law. The Best Brief Award, with a $1,000 scholarship each, went to Julie Wong and Shulamite Shen of the University of California College of Law at Hastings. The Best Oralist was Anna Mercado of Fordham University School of Law of New York City who received a $2,000 scholarship.

The $10,000 in scholarships were generously provided by Anheuser-Busch, Inc., a long-time supporter and sponsor of the Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition. David L. Kim, Director of Corporate Relations for Anheuser-Busch, Inc. said, “The Anheuser-Busch Companies and its family of wholesalers are pleased to congratulate the 2004 winners of the annual Thomas Tang National Moot Court competition. Our commitment to supporting leadership development through the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association has been key to recognizing and nurturing the new leaders in the Asian Pacific American communities. We appreciate our long-standing partnership with the NAPABA Law Foundation and look forward to continuing to work together to produce the best and brightest of the next generation.”