Catholic University Wins D.C. Cup Moot Court Competition

March 03, 2025

Annie Pierce (left) and Victoria Biondolillo of Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law

Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law students Victoria Biondolillo and Annie Pierce emerged victorious at the 2025 D.C. Cup Moot Court Competition on February 28, beating out five teams to win the top spot.

In the final round held at the D.C. Court of Appeals, Biondolillo and Pierce faced off with George Washington University Law School students Ella Hillier and Elone Mengistu in a case involving a Love Is Blind reality TV couple whose quick journey from affianced to split resulted in a dispute over the $100,000 engagement ring.

Biondolillo and Pierce had what judges acknowledged as the easier argument in the case, that a no-fault standard should apply in disputes over engagement rings in the District, citing similar policies in the divorce context as well as case law from the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia.

However, D.C. Court of Appeals Senior Judge Phyllis D. Thompson, who served as chief judge of the moot court, noted that in the context of the competition, the focus is on the students’ arguments and delivery rather than on which party might win a case on its merits.

Indeed, GW Law’s team received high praise from the panel. Caroline S. Van Zile, the District’s solicitor general, applauded Mengistu’s deployment of several legal theories and her quick pivot to focus on those the judge appeared receptive to, while congratulating Hillier on her arguments relating to gifting law.

D.C. Bar President Shaun Snyder also praised the team’s efforts, saying that he found their argument in the case more impressive than that made by the attorneys in the Massachusetts precedent case they cited, which he had happened to witness.

However, Pierce’s confident delivery won her the award for best oralist, and Biondolillo was lauded for providing a clear roadmap for the legal theories advanced by the team. The award for best brief went to American University Washington College of Law’s Rachel Bechtel and Gabriela Dickson La Rotta.

Pierce was eager to share credit for the win. “On top of everyone who mooted us, we also had a very supportive coach, Sam Winter, who was with us in the courtroom almost every day in the weeks leading up to this event,” Pierce said. “We also know that our school got second in the event last year … We had a D.C. rivalry with all the schools, so we were definitely hungry to bring the win home for our whole moot court team. We had five members of our moot court executive board who supported us tonight.”

Biondolillo also had praise for the competition. “They were a really strong team, and it was fun to go against such a good team, and an honor for [the judges] to have chosen us,” she said, reiterating her teammate’s gratitude for their coach and moot court colleagues. “They were diligent making sure that no single stone was left unturned, making sure that we were precise in our use of every single case.”

The competition, organized by the D.C. Bar Communities, is an invitational event for the six law schools located in the District of Columbia. In addition to GW Law, Catholic, and American, other competing schools were Howard University School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law.

“The D.C. Cup Moot Court Competition shines a bright light on the city's best future attorneys,” said Pamela Robinson, director of the D.C. Bar Communities. “It is exciting to witness their expertise and abilities even before they graduate from law school.