LOS ANGELES DAILY JOURNAL • MARCH 25, 2008

Western State Moot Court Will Focus on Disability Law

By Greg Katz
Daily Journal Staff Writer
This article appears on Page 2

LOS ANGELES - Intermittent explosive disorder is the impulse-control disorder sometimes said to cause road rage and domestic abuse - and it is about to have its day in moot court.

Teams of law students will dissect the disorder on Saturday at Western State University College of Law's first annual Frank N. Darras Disability Law Moot Court Competition, to be held at the school's Fullerton campus.

"It's, as far as we can tell, the only moot court competition in the country that focuses exclusively on disability law," said James A. Hayes, Western State's assistant dean of academic programs.

"I don't want to say that categorically, but my own Google search just pops up ours," he said.

The unique competition will also feature unique subject matter.

"This year's problem focuses on the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is the basic federal law that protects the rights of disabled people, and it presents a very interesting argument about intermittent explosive order, dealing with whether that's a protected disability," Hayes said.

The act explicitly excludes several impulse control disorders, including kleptomania, pyromania and pathological gambling, Hayes noted. However, he said, it does not mention impulse-control disorders in general, nor does it mention intermittent explosive disorder specifically.

The moot court case, designed by a Western State student, involves an appeal of an employment verdict by a janitor who was fired for having intermittent explosive disorder, despite displaying no violent behavior on the job.

Mark McGuire, a Western State student who helped organize the competition, said he hopes it will encourage more student interest in appellate law.

"It's not a sexy area of law," McGuire said. "It's a technical area of law. But it's a very important area of law."

Among the competitors are teams from law schools at the University of Southern Illinois, John F. Kennedy University and West Los Angeles University.

The competition is named for Frank N. Darras, a Western State University Law School alumnus and managing partner at Shernoff Bidart & Darras.

Darras heads the firm's disability and long-term care insurance department. He is also a major donor to the law school.

The competition is open to the public. For more information, call (714) 738-1000.