Liberty Moot Court duo secures program’s second national championship

For the second time in program history, Liberty University’s Moot Court competition team, sponsored by the Helms School of Government, has claimed a coveted national championship title at the American Moot Court Association’s (AMCA) national tournament on Feb. 21-22 at the University of Kentucky College of Law in Lexington, Ky.

Out of more than 500 teams across the nation, Liberty’s winning duo further solidified the university’s moot court reputation as one of the nation’s leading premier pre-law extracurricular programs.

Pairs from reputable pre-law programs like Yale, Georgetown, Berkeley, and others competed in regional tournaments during the fall semester. The AMCA hosts two previous rounds of competition leading up to the final round of nationals. A total of 13 teams from Liberty competed this season, with three advancing past the regionals and preliminary rounds into the Final Round of the National Tournament (FRONT).

In the finale standoff at the final round, which featured the top 32 teams in America, senior Katie Cassady and junior Eric Mathemeier defeated a team from Patrick Henry College, a powerhouse program that has claimed 14 national championships in the past 25 years.

“It’s a huge accomplishment, and I’ve been so grateful for the past two years qualifying for the tournament,” said Cassady, a pre-law and history student. “Winning the competition is just an amazing feeling. Seeing all the work that Eric and I have put in the past year, preparing and refining our arguments and our speaking and spending hours and hours with our coaches and teammates, culminate in the national title was a really rewarding feeling.”

While Liberty has consistently earned slots in the top 32 each year, it has only claimed the title once, in 2021, during a virtual final due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then-seniors David Korn and Randall Shirey overcame a team from Colorado Christian University to officially place Liberty’s program in the national spotlight.

The AMCA challenges students each year with a complex legal issue, requiring teams of two to either argue as the petitioner or the respondent in a fictional case. This season’s prompt centered around a 40-year-old college professor who attempted to enroll as a student at the school where he taught but was rejected because the program sought more female applicants. After criticizing the decision on social media, he was subsequently fired from his teaching position.

Throughout the season, Moot Court competitors were tasked with honing their knowledge and arguments surrounding equal protection and First Amendment rights. Cassady and Mathemeier played the part of petitioner in the final litigation against Patrick Henry College.

“The main thing is trying to take complex topics and make them simple and easy to understand,” said Professor of Government and Moot Court coach Dr. Benjamin Rathsam, who serves as department chair for criminal justice and pre-law. “You want your arguments to be in-depth but easy to understand. We want them to be based upon what the law is, what the precedent is, but we also want it to be digestible and easy to understand. And that’s the thing that takes a lot of time.”

Upon receiving the case in May 2025, students worked diligently over the summer and met three times a week during the Fall 2025 semester. Some pairs met outside mandatory practice times to refine their arguments.

Mathemeier, a national security and intelligence student and member of Liberty’s Mock Trial competition team, said he and Cassady clocked more than 600 hours in preparation for the final round of nationals. He said winning the honor is a testament to the leadership within the Helms School of Government and Christ’s faithfulness.

“I’m overwhelmed with appreciation and gratitude for all that our professors are willing to do for us,” he said. “They’re really encouraging and uplifting, but they’re also very demanding. And that makes it very healthy for the competitive environment. Moot Court prepares us well for law school.”

Cassady, editor-in-chief of the Helms School Undergraduate Law Review and a member of the Dean’s Council, entered Moot Court three years ago without any prior public speaking experience and has made it to the final round of 32 each year. She is planning to practice appellate advocacy after law school. Mathemeier plans to pursue a career in either entertainment law or appellate advocacy.

“Eric’s just an insanely hard worker, and it was such a privilege to be his partner this year,” Cassady said. “I think I can confidently say we both helped each other grow a lot.”

“You really never know what’s going to happen at the (national) tournament where there are so many incredible teams and everyone’s amazing,” she added. “But I think God was really good to us in giving us favor in the eyes of the judges and helping us to win so many ballots.”

Rathsam said he is proud of all of Liberty’s Moot Court participants this season, who have used the opportunity to develop confidence as they inch closer to their careers.

“If you want to be dedicated, then you can become a national champion,” he said.

“We continue to be very grateful to the university and the Helms School of Government for providing us with the opportunity. There are a lot of schools out there that don’t get the same support,” Rathsam added, noting that travel, lodging, and meal expenses are covered by the school. “We are very grateful for that, and it definitely opens up a lot of doors and a lot of opportunities for students to better their rhetoric skills, to better their legal analysis, and to ultimately become better lawyers and law students.”

Students interested in participating in Moot Court or other Helms School of Government competition teams can email government@liberty.edu for more information.