President Barack Obama has just nominated Second Circuit Justice Sonia Sotomayor to replace David Souter on the Supreme Court. Over the next few days and weeks, tons of ink will be spilled over Sotomayor, with legal pundits on every network and in every newspaper analyzing her every decision.

But before any of that commences, I would like to salute Sotomayor for one of her lesser known decisions: back in 2000, she presided over the New York City Moot Court Championships as part of a three-judge panel and declared Townsend Harris High School the winner. I don’t remember the precise questions she asked my classmate and me that day as we delivered our oral arguments, but I do remember being told that we were facing a top-notch justice who was on the rise.

Apparently our high school principal was right.