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Rosalind Cuneo, 2L, has been named the recipient of the Malcolm Edwards '57 Award for Best Written Advocacy, a $2,000 cash prize given each year to the best piece of advocacy written by a first-year student for Legal Analysis, Research and Writing (LARW) during the spring quarter. The winning brief or motion was chosen anonymously from among the final assignments submitted in LARW.

To be considered for the Edwards Award, students must (1) participate in the First Year Appellate Advocacy Competition and (2) complete the course requirements for LARW. LARW faculty and the partners of Smith Goodfriend selected the winning entry following a blind review.

As a part of the LARW course requirements, Cuneo submitted a motion for summary judgments at the end of spring quarter. She had argued a case in April before a moot court panel of volunteer judges and was motivated by the prize incentive to participate in the oral advocacy competition following her written assignment.

“It gave me a taste for litigation,” she said, “and writing and arguing persuasively.”

Cuneo praised her professor, David Ziff. “I learned a lot and grew a lot, especially in recognizing how legal writing is so different from academic and marketing writing. I attribute a lot of my success to Prof. Ziff because he is awesome — a truly fantastic professor.”

This academic year, Cuneo is part of a four-member ������Ƶ team competing in the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, sponsored by Pace Law.

She is interested in pursuing a career in environmental or Native American law. Last summer Cuneo worked at the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) in Arcata, Calif. EPIC’s core advocacy areas are forestry reform and watershed protection in Northern California. In the summer of 2023, she will work in Anchorage, Alaska with a private firm that represents indigenous clients.

Cuneo is thankful for the Edwards Award opportunity. “The money from this prize is really helpful for things like rent,” she said, “but I am going to treat myself and a friend to a nice dinner.”

The Edwards Award was established in 2012 by a donation from the law firm of Smith Goodfriend, P.S., to honor the firm’s founding partner, Malcolm L. Edwards, ’57, who devoted a substantial portion of his law practice to appellate advocacy. He was lead counsel in more than 100 published opinions in the Washington appellate courts. His former partners created this award to honor his devotion to appellate practice, the rule of law and the pursuit of justice.