Meet the Coaches
Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Team
Adanna Smith
, J.D.
'19
Coach Smith graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2019. While attending law school, Ms. Smith was a competing member of the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Team, where she earned Best Oral Advocate at both the regional and national competitions. Following graduation, Ms. Smith clerked for Judge Julie R. Rubin at the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. After completion of her clerkship she worked for two firms handling complex civil litigation and medical malpractice litigation. Ms. Smith currently serves as the career law clerk to Judge Rubin at the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. In this role, Ms. Smith is responsible for conducting legal research and drafting opinions and memoranda related to complex federal litigation cases.
National Taxation Moot Court Team
Fred Brown, J.D. '85, LL.M. '86
Brown teaches in the area of federal income taxation and directs the University's Graduate Tax Program. He has published articles on matters concerning international taxation, as well as articles addressing fundamental income tax features such as realization and nonrecognition, along with a book (co-written with Walter Schwidetzky) on the taxation of business entities. In 2000-01, Brown served as an academic adviser to the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation in connection with the Joint Committee staff study of the overall state of the federal tax system. In 2007, he was awarded the Saul Ewing Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Area of Transactional Law. In 2011, Brown was awarded the Tax Excellence Award by the Taxation Section of the Maryland State Bar Association. In 2019, Brown received the University of Baltimore School of Law Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Full Time Faculty Member.
Before joining the faculty in 1990, Brown practiced tax law with the firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts and Trowbridge in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was an acting assistant professor at the New York University School of Law's Graduate Tax Program.
National Moot Court Team
Patricia A. Smith, J.D.
Patricia A. Smith is an expert litigator and has handled both trial and appellate litigation in state and federal courts. She has practiced law since 1981 and has held various government appointments throughout her career. Her relationship with the University of Baltimore began 27 years ago, and includes teaching Legal Writing & Advocacy, coaching the National Moot Court Team, and previously coaching the National Environmental Moot Court Team.
In addition to her teaching activities at the University of Baltimore School of Law, she is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law as well as a member of the Criminal Justice faculty at Stevenson University. Ms. Smith has lectured extensively on ethics and the 4th and 5th amendments as related to law enforcement and criminal prosecution. She previously spent 15 years on the faculty of the School of Education at the Johns Hopkins University.
Ms. Smith received her J.D. from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. She has an M.A. from Indiana University in Classics and received her B.A. from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Ms. Smith is a native of Baltimore City and has one daughter who is currently a resident physician in anesthesiology.
Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Team
Donna Starr-Deelen, J.D.
Coach
Starr-Deelen
is a multifaceted educator, consultant, and researcher who combines academic training in international law, national security (including counter-terrorism), and the US system of government. Coach Starr- Deelen's experience with the Jessup competition is long-standing and includes participating as a student competitor at the University of San Diego School of Law, and later serving as a judge before becoming coach at UB Law School. She completed her LLM in International and Comparative Law at Georgetown University Law Center and her PhD at the University of Bradford, UK. She is the author of two books:
Presidential Policies on Terrorism: From Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama
and
Counter-terrorism from the Obama Administration to President Trump: Caught in the Fait Accompli War
.
National Appellate Advocacy Team
Samuel Feder, J.D. '13
Mr.
Feder
received his B.A. from Carleton College in 2007 and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2013. He has been an appellate public defender since 2013. Mr.
Feder
has been an adjunct at the University of Baltimore School of Law since 2022.
John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court Team
Jessica Swadow, J.D.
'16
Jessica L. Swadow is an Associate Counsel for University of Maryland Medical System. Jessica earned her undergraduate and law degrees from University of Baltimore (B.A., 2011; J.D., 2016). During law school, she competed for two years on the John J. Gibbons Criminal Procedure Moot Court team. Prior to joining UMMS, Jessica was a civil litigator for several years, handling complex insurance coverage matters, professional liability and employment cases, and business and commercial litigation.
National Trial Competition Team
Annemarie Duerr , J.D. '22
Annemarie Duerr graduated cum laude from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2022. While attending law school, Ms. Duerr was a competing member of the National Trial Competition Team, where her team won the regional competition and competed at Nationals in Spring 2022. She also served as a Rule 19 attorney in the Bronfein Family Law Clinic, participated on the Board of Advocates as Trial Team Liaison, and was the President of Phi Alpha Delta, La Brum Chapter.
Ms. Duerr currently works at Cordell & Cordell in their Baltimore office, where she practices Domestic Litigation including divorce, custody, property division, prenuptial agreements, paternity, and child support.