Seventh Circuit Team

Notre Dame Law School Moot Court

Back Row (left to right): Peter Allevato (’23), Shane Coughlin (’23), Matt Delfino (’23), Maximos Nikitas (’23), Chris Ostertag (’24)
Front Row: Sam Gellen (’24), Zach Damir (’24), Sachit Shrivastav (’24), Jeremy Wang (’23)
Not Pictured: Alyce Hammer

The Seventh Circuit Team takes on real cases at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit!

2021-2022 Team Captain: Sebastian Bellm

Seventh Circuit Team

The Seventh Circuit Team is unique in that it argues real cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Each year, the five team members take on up to three cases representing pro bono clients. Under the guidance of a local attorney, the Seventh Circuit Team submits both an opening and reply brief to the court and then presents oral arguments before a panel of three federal appellate judges.

*Alumni please contact ND Moot Court if you would like to add any information regarding your team or have any information about a tournament accomplishment not displayed here.

Recent Accomplishments

2020-2021

In 2021, Vivian Pham (’21) argued a case that lead to the filing of a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. The case involved the constitutionality of the long-term use of pole cameras, cameras attached to telephone poles, under the Fourth Amendment. The surveillance in this case took place over a long period of time, contributing to its invasive nature.

New pole camera technology provides constant surveillance: more storage, higher quality zoom, and the ability to pan. Vivian Pham’s position was that this kind of surveillance is similar to tracking a car; the use of this new technology paints a full picture of every aspect of a persons life and is therefore an unreasonable search and seizure. She advocated that such a “mosaic” approach of surveillance, where police use so much surveillance that they can piece together a lot of personal information, is an unreasonable search.

The lower court was hesitant, as there is case law regarding pole cameras being lawful because they only display what any person on the street would otherwise be able to see. Yet, these cameras have new technological capabilities that are more invasive than those in use at the time the case law was established.

2019-2020

In 2020, Yara Rashad (’20) and Hanna Torline (’20) won their case, which focused on the validity of a motion to suppress evidence concerning a search warrant for illegal drugs.