Elon's two teams placed in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds with Landon Eckard L’25 and Darci Sharpe L’25 each recognized for advocacy and winning 2nd place for Best Brief.
Elon University School of Law celebrated an outstanding weekend of advocacy results as two moot court teams earned top placements at the regional round of the National Moot Court Competition, held Nov. 21–22, 2025, in Richmond, Virginia.
Representing Elon Law were Landon Eckard L’25 and Darci Sharpe L’25, who advanced to the semifinal round, and Erin Carleton L’26 and Elizabeth Rowell L’26, who advanced to the quarterfinals, in one of the largest and longest-running advocacy competitions in the country. Elon Law’s moot court teams were coached by Elon alumni Andrea Davis L’12 and Preston Edwards L’19. The teams’ participation was made possible through the generous support of Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers, at justicecounts.com, which strengthens Elon Law’s advocacy programs.
The regional competition is hosted by the Virginia Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division, with teams across the Mid-Atlantic vying for a spot in the national finals co-sponsored by the New York City Bar Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Eckard and Sharpe delivered a standout performance, advancing as one of the top four teams. They also won second place for Best Brief, and both earned recognition for courtroom advocacy. Darci Sharpe was named Best Advocate in preliminary rounds, and Landon Eckard earned Best Advocate honors in the semifinal round.
“We are so proud of the hard work of our students and our alumni coaches, both former members of the Moot Court Board, and congratulate them on their success this past weekend,” said Alan Woodlief, vice dean, professor of law, and director of Elon Law’s Moot Court Program. “Elon Law appreciates the tremendous support of our advocacy program by Riddle & Riddle Injury Lawyers; their sponsorship helped our teams travel to the competition in Richmond and have the incredible experience of presenting oral arguments in the same courtrooms used by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.”
Established in 2008, Elon Law’s Moot Court Board has built a reputation for excellence with several strong finishes and numerous awards in national competitions, including six best brief awards, best oral advocate awards and top team awards. In fall 2020, Elon Law advanced to the national finals of the National Moot Court Competition.
Each year, the Moot Court Board hosts intramural moot court competitions on the Greensboro and Charlotte campuses. Since 2011, the board has hosted the Billings, Exum & Frye National Moot Court Competition, which annually welcomes more than 40 teams from law schools across the country and over 100 attorneys and judges from the North Carolina Bar to Elon Law’s Greensboro campus to engage cutting-edge First Amendment issues currently pending before the Federal Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.
ABOUT ELON LAW
Elon Law is the preeminent school for engaged and experiential learning in law. With a focus on learning by doing, it integrates traditional classroom instruction with a required, full-time residency-in-practice field placement for all full-time students during the winter or spring of their second year. The law school’s distinctive full-time J.D. curriculum offers a purposefully sequenced program of professional preparation and is accomplished in 2.5 years, which provides exceptional value by lowering tuition and permitting graduates early entry into their careers.
The Elon Law Flex Program, a part-time, in-person program of legal study for place-bound students at Elon University’s Charlotte campus in South End, welcomed its second cohort in Fall 2025. Students balancing work, family and other commitments can earn their J.D. in just under four years through evening classes featuring the same academic rigor and experiential opportunities available to full-time students.
Elon Law has graduated more than 1,700 alumni since opening its doors in 2006. Its annual enrollment now tops 500 students and the law school is regularly featured in the top tier of PreLaw Magazine’s “Best Schools for Practical Training” rankings.