2024 Edwin R. Keedy Cup Winners
Miles Gray L'24 and Ethan Swift L'24 captured this year's Keedy Cup as well as Best Brief honors. Ethan Swift L'24 and Miles Gray L'24 Miles Gray L'24 and Ethan Swift L'24 are this year's Keedy Cup winners of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School's annual internal moot court competition. Gray and Swift argued for the Respondents in the competition's case, SEC v. Jarkesy and were awarded Best Brief. Gray was also named Best Oralist. James Callison L'24 and Justin Dicarlo L'24 argued for Petitioners. "The Keedy Cup was an incredible opportunity," said Gray. "Over several months, I learned to write a better brief, give a better argument, and—above all—work on a very fun team. I am very grateful to the judges, the moot court board, Professor Gowen, and everyone else at Penn who helped run the competition." The Case: SEC v. Jarkesy
Congress has granted the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), by statute, the authority to determine how it enforces securities laws: It can bring an action in an Article III federal court; or it can bring an administrative action before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) — without a jury. Justin Dicarlo L'24 and James Callison L'24 When the SEC sued George Jarkesy and his two hedge funds for securities fraud, it chose to bring an administrative action before an ALJ. The ALJ determined that Jarkesy had committed fraud, and Jarkesy challenged the constitutionality of the administrative enforcement action. In this year's Keedy Cup, four of Penn Carey Law's finest argued two issues: (1) Whether the SEC's ALJ adjudications violate the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial; and (2) whether Congress's grant of authority—allowing the SEC to choose how to enforce its actions—violates the nondelegation doctrine. The Edwin R. Keedy Cup Competition
The Keedy Cup, which is named for Edwin R. Keedy, who served as Dean of the Law School during World War II, is Penn Carey Law's intramural moot court competition. The competition begins in the spring, when all second-year students are invited to enter the Keedy Cup Preliminaries. The four students who receive the highest score in the Preliminaries, based on written briefs and three rounds of oral argument, move on to the Keedy Cup Finals. In the Keedy Cup Finals, the four finalists brief and argue a pending Supreme Court case before a panel of sitting federal judges live in Fitts Auditorium. All members of the Penn Carey Law community are invited to watch and cheer on the student oralists and then attend a celebratory reception in the Goat Lounge. Learn more about advocacy competitions at Penn Carey Law.
