U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and three federal appeals court judges grilled the counselors on their oral arguments, pushed for answers on policy questions and interrupted speeches for clarification on law.

But this was no regular hearing; it was the final round of a moot court competition at Columbia University School of Law on Thursday.

Two student teams argued a case created by another student in front of Roberts and federal appeals judges Diane Wood, Diana Motz and Michael McConnell.

The event was held in an auditorium packed with students and faculty eager to catch a glimpse of Roberts, who was hard on the competitors but also cracked jokes and offered insight and advice to the budding lawyers.

"You may be disappointed to learn the judges don't come out and tell you what they thought about your arguments," Roberts quipped after the competition, when the panel came back to discuss the proceedings.

The students, Jordan Connors, Christopher Hogan, Mollie Kornreich and David Scherr, argued the fictional case of three poor Illinois women who claim they've been denied quality medical care. In the case, the women are trying to file a class action lawsuit against the director of the state Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

The issues at stake in the case, which was written by student Alison Wright, include whether the women have the right to sue under federal law and whether the case may be certified as a class action on behalf of all poor women in the state who met certain criteria.

Wright, who will graduate in May, worked on creating the problem for months and said she wanted to focus on how the federal laws impact the lives of everyday people.

"It was incredible to watch this play out," she said.

Hogan, who graduates in May and is planning to work as a clerk for a judge in Texas, was named the winner of the competition, which started with 55 students. Hogan and the other three finalists said they were nervous to argue the case in front of such distinguished judges.

Roberts later presented Hogan with a certificate for his victory.

The room was tense during the moot court proceedings, but afterward the mood was light as each judge spoke, praising the students and often poking fun at the problems federal appeals court judges run into when dealing with Supreme Court rulings.

Wood is a judge in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Motz is in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and McConnell is in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Roberts, who took his seat on the Supreme Court on Sept. 29, 2005, has done moot court sessions before, including in November 2005, when he joined two other judges to hear a competition for second-year law students at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"You may have thought we were being a little rude in stepping over each other's questions; let me assure you that is exactly how it looks in the real world," Roberts said Thursday. "Because, quite often, the judges are debating among themselves, really, and just using the lawyers as a backboard."

Motz told the students they should never try to stretch the law, and Wood said she prefers straight answers to questions, even when it may hurt the attorney.

"If you don't give a straightforward answer to a tough question," she said, "the judge is going to assume you don't have a good answer."

Copyright 2008 Associated Press