Willamette University College of Law’s Karolyn Klohe and Shawn Aaron Young emerged from a field of 64 law schools to win the 2003 National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition at Pace Law School. Willamette University is in Salem, Oregon. The student-run event sponsored by Pace Law School is the premier environmental law moot court competition in the country and one of the largest competitions of its kind.

The competition, now in its 15th year, simulates the process for preparing a legal case and presenting that case to a United States Court of Appeals. Students are given a complex environmental issue and must prepare legal briefs supporting the position of one of the parties to the case. They then travel to Pace Law School to argue the case before attorneys who serve as "judges." Judge Morton I. Greenberg, U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, presided at the final round of the competition together with Judge John R. Gibson, U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Ronald L. McCallum, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Appeals Board.

Drake University Law School of Des Moines, Iowa (Ron Bailey, Randy Goodwin, and Scot Kreider) and Louisiana State University Paul M. Herbert Law Center (Kristy Boxberger, Hope Robertson, Megan Terrell) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana were the other finalists. The University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law (Della Au Belatti, Summer Kupau, Stanton K. Oishi) took home the award for Best Brief. Chrysi Pejot of Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida received the award for the best oral argument.

Teams reaching the semifinal round other than the three finalists included Florida State University College of Law from Tallahassee, Florida; Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio; Stetson University College of Law; University of Florida Levin College of Law from Gainesville, Florida; Valparaiso University School of Law from Valparaiso, Indiana; and Washington University School of Law from St. Louis, Missouri.

Pace Law School is located in White Plains, New York. The Law School has one of the highest-ranking environmental law programs in the country and houses several nationally recognized programs including its Environmental Litigation Clinic, Energy Project, and Land Use Law Center.

The American Bar Association and the Environmental Law Institute co-sponsored the competition.

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is located in White Plains, N.Y., 20 miles north of New York City. The School offers the J.D. program for full-time, and part-time day, and evening students. Its post-graduate program includes the LL.M. and S.J.D. degrees in Environmental Law and an LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has one of the nation's top-rated environmental law programs and its Clinical Education Program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, securities arbitration, criminal justice, and disability rights.