Nervous? But it's just Chief Justice Roberts.

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One minute into Cory Aronovitz's argument in a moot court competition, he was cut off by a question from none other than the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.

"I was anticipating that question, but it was probably the one question I didn't want to answer," said Aronovitz. "I got it out of my mouth. I saw him nodding and that was a big confidence booster."

Confidence paid off for the Justice Campbell Thornal Moot Court Final Four competitors as Aronovitz, Kevin Combest, Robert Davis, and Tara Nelson argued a hypothetical case in front of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and three judges from the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on September 5 at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Aronovitz, son of former Florida Bar President Tod Aronovitz, won the best brief and best oral argument award, while Davis took home the best overall participant. Aronovitz and Combest won the competition for the petitioner, and Davis and Nelson argued for the respondent.

Every day since they learned they had made the final four, the law students prepared for hours, including enduring grueling questions from their professors that Combest described as "hard-hitting, adversarial, and trying to get us to screw up."

Knowing the chief justice would be judging gave them an extra case of the jitters to overcome.

"The gravity of the situation added to the nerves," Nelson said.

"Before I went out, we were all kind of sweaty palms, and we thought it was going to be nerve-racking," Combest said. "But as soon as you get out there, he's about as tall as you. He's a regular guy."

The case involved the constitutionality of the fictional State of Webb allowing a specialty license plate with the words "Choose Life," without allowing a license plate with an opposing viewpoint.

Even though it was hypothetical, UF Law Professor Lyrissa...