After more than six weeks of case studying, critiques and planning, Dominique Williams, 29, was ready for his day in court.

That is with John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States.

As the third-year student at N.C. Central University School of Law argued his case before Roberts and other renowned judges, the butterflies and teeth-clenching questions did not faze him. He knew to stay relaxed and keep his ground.

“All I thought about was the hard work put into this, week after week,” said Williams, 29, a Halifax County native.

Williams, along with five other finalists, participated in the final round of a moot court competition on the morning of April 14, in front of more than 120 NCCU law students and faculty.

Presiding over the competition was Chief Justice Roberts; marking the first time in the school’s seventy-year history a U.S. chief justice has visited.

The last time Roberts visited a N.C. law school was in 2005, when he presided over a mock trial at Wake Forest University.

Roberts, the 17th chief justice in U.S. history, was present the day before to swear in 20 candidates, all alumni of NCCU’s law school, for admission to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar.

The competition started in January, where participants could either side with the U.S. government or the defendant. Participants prepared a brief, which would be examined by faculty, addressing all legal issues raised while attempting to make a sound argument.

In February, after oral arguments were held before faculty members and attorneys, four finalists were selected and paired in teams of two. The teams prepared final case briefs and received training from local attorneys on how to orate their arguments.

Working in two teams of three, representing the inmate were Williams, Robert Dodson and Kahlida Lloyd. For the U.S. government were John Stuart, LaTanya Harris, and Matthew Reeder.

In this fictional case, the students argued whether it was unconstitutional for the U.S. government to give anti-psychotic medication to the criminal defendant, Jeremy Arrington, in order to restore his ability to stand trial for threatening a federal judge.

The case noted Sell v. United States, where the U.S. government could obtain a court order to use anti-psychotic medication against a defendant’s will in order to make the defendant able to stand trial.

Williams, who spoke on the defendant’s side, received clever backlash from Roberts with questions such as, “You’re not challenging the government’s interest here are you? After all, the person threatened a judge!”

He said he wanted to keep the dialogue between him and the judges conversational.

“The judges really put me at ease,” said Williams. “I appreciate them for making this fun.”

Roberts didn’t sit alone, as he was accompanied by Allyson Duncan, former NCCU law professor and the first African-American judge to sit on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Henry Frye, the first African-American appointed as N.C. Chief Justice.

Although the judges delivered quick rebuttals and stern questioning to the students’ arguments, in the end, each judge gave remarks of approval for the student’s knowledge of material and sense of composure.

“I’m a little disappointed you weren’t more nervous,” Roberts said jokingly to both teams after the proceedings.

After the competition, Roberts made his rounds with surprise visits inside different classrooms of NCCU’s law school. He concluded those visits with a sit-down luncheon with students, conversing and blending in as if he were a regular faculty member.

Duncan, a former associate professor at NCCU from 1986 to 1990, said she was more impressed with the student’s high confidence level and wondered if she, along with her fellow judges, were intimidating enough.

“They were so self-possessed, confident and poised,” said Duncan. “It is lovely to be back to see the quality of students being produced.”

After watching the students perform in court, Frye, a 1959 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law, said he wish he had a similar experience as theirs.

“You don’t get many opportunities such as this,” Frye said. “It was clear they were ready.”

After grueling conferences with area lawyers and judges, second-year NCCU law student Kahlida Lloyd said prayer was her tool in the weeks leading up to the competition.

“We all prayed for no nervousness and prayed that we were prepared,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd said it was a “hot bench” while she was dead center with the judges, most of her nervousness was channeled through her excitement, noting her experience as “phenomenal.”

“Just the thought process of being able to represent our law school and this university was something we all felt was important,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd and opposing team member, Reeder, received the judges’ honor as the competition’s best speakers. Reeder and Stuart received recognition as the competition’s best brief writers.

Reeder, who is graduating in December, attributed some of the groups’ success to their recent visit of the U.S. Supreme Court Building to witness an actual Supreme Court argument.

He said this helped him get a feel for what his day in court would be like.

David Green, associate dean for academic affairs at NCCU law school, mentioned Roberts had a strong reputation for asking lawyers tough questions during trial.

“That’s typical,” said Green. “All the judges’ questions were pretty tough, but the students anticipated that.”

In the end, all three judges gave collective advice to the finalists: practice arguments in front of others, slow down when speaking, control the tempo of the argument and understand their cases better than anyone else..

“You need to break it down to the level that anyone intelligent can understand your argument,” said Roberts.

Written By:
Geoffrey A. Cooper