IIT Chicago-Kent Announces Its Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition Team
Emiliano Baidenbaum '14, Paulina López Caballero '14 and Esther Mignanelli '14 will represent IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law in the 19th annual Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition in Orlando. Sponsored by the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), the tournament will be held during the organization's Annual Corporate Counsel Conference March 19 to 22.
The students will argue Juan Beniquez v. State of West Carolina, a hypothetical federal appellate case. At issue is whether the Fourth Amendment requires an officer who receives an anonymous tip regarding a drunken or reckless driver to corroborate dangerous driving before stopping the vehicle. (The issues in the case are based on Navarette v. California, which is currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.) Teams from more than 30 law schools will compete.
IIT Chicago-Kent team member Emiliano Baidenbaum is an advanced-standing student who earned his law degree from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico and received a diploma in contract and business transactions from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. Teammate Paulina López Caballero is also an advanced-standing student who earned a law degree from Universidad Iberoamericana. López was a member of the IIT Chicago-Kent team that won the National Cultural Heritage Law Moot Court Competition last month. She earned individual honors as that tournament's best oral advocate. Teammate Esther Mignanelli graduated from Bethel University in Minnesota with a double major in history and political science and a minor in philosophy. The team is sponsored by IIT Chicago-Kent's Hispanic-Latino Law Students Association (HLLSA) and is coached by IIT Chicago-Kent Professor Howard C. Eglit.
The competition is named for the late Uvaldo Herrera in recognition of his "dedication and service to law students and the law." Mr. Herrera served as a member of the HNBA board of governors, general counsel and vice president of programs. For nearly 30 years, he worked as a member of the State Farm Insurance Company legal staff. Mr. Herrera died in 2011.
Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. IIT Chicago-Kent's Hispanic-Latino Law Students Association (HLLSA) was founded in 1982. The organization actively seeks to increase opportunities for Hispanic students to attend law school, provide necessary support for their academic success, and assist students in becoming acclimated to the law school environment.
