Skip to main content

Trial Advocacy Board Takes Home 1st Place from National Pretrial Competition

Regent University School of Law’s Trial Advocacy Board is busy making a name for itself. After being awarded “Best Brief” last year at the invitation-only National Pretrial Competition hosted by Stetson University, the team was ready for more.

And this year, they got exactly what they aimed for. The team of Lu Aloupas, Jerry Harris, Kate Hart, and David Johnson were named Overall 1st Place Team and National Pretrial Champions at the competition held October 3-4, in Gulfport, Florida.

In addition to this honorable achievement, the team was recognized for Overall Best Brief once again, teammate Hart was given Best Oral Advocate in the Semi-Final Round, and teammate Harris was given Best Oral Advocate in the Final Round.

The team did not lose a round during the entire competition, even when slated against Chicago-Kent, a traditional top-ten Trial Advocacy powerhouse.

To compete, the team submitted written briefs on a pretrial motion and presented oral arguments and evidence on the motions. Three-hour rounds are designed to simulate motions practice, which is what most junior attorneys spend a significant amount of time doing after law school. Team Coach and Professor David Velloney said, “It's a great concept and Stetson deserves credit for developing and hosting such a relevant competition.”

Velloney also remarked on what made the success possible. “Special thanks are due to our Legal Research and Writing [faculty] whose dedication to our students once again paid big dividends in our students' ability to rise above the competition from other schools,”
he said. “Also, Professor James Duane's work with the team and dedication to the trial advocacy program significantly improved our student's arguments and ability to handle witnesses.”

The Trial Advocacy board is already busy preparing for its next competition, the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law’s Sixth Annual Competition in early November.

Click here for further information published by Stetson College of Law regarding Regent’s victory and the National Pretrial Competition.

Popular posts from this blog

Regent Law Hires Two New Faculty Members—Both Yale Law Graduates—for Fall 2022

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (July 5, 2022) – Today, Regent University School of Law announced the appointment of two new members of its faculty, Erin Morrow Hawley and David D. Velloney.  Both Hawley and Velloney are graduates of Yale Law School.  Professor Hawley will teach constitutional law and serve as a senior fellow at the Robertson Center for Constitutional Law.  Professor Velloney will focus on criminal law, military law, and constitutional criminal procedure.   Professors Hawley and Velloney are the third and fourth professors added to the Regent Law faculty in the past year.  “We are incredibly fortunate to attract such exceptional teachers, mentors, and scholars to our faculty,” said Brad Lingo, dean of Regent University School of Law.  “Our students will love learning from professors Hawley and Velloney and benefit from the depth of experience and Christian perspectives they bring.” New Faculty Appointments: Erin Morrow Hawley: Associate Pro...
Read more

Hernandez Appointed as Regent University School of Law Dean

Michael Hernandez and Jeffrey Brauch. Bar passage rates were a lackluster 40 percent when Jeffrey A. Brauch was appointed interim dean of the Regent University School of Law in 1999. Brauch knew a curriculum overhaul was needed to better prepare students, and he turned to trusted law school colleagues to lead the curriculum reforms, including Michael Hernandez, who played a central role. Fast forward 16 years, and Regent’s bar passage rates have improved significantly, exceeding the Virginia average in four of the past five years. Also, the school, the students and the faculty have earned numerous accolades under Brauch’s leadership. Now, Brauch is returning to the classroom, and Hernandez, a seasoned legal professor and faculty adviser of the nation’s 8th ranked Moot Court program, has been appointed dean of the Regent University School of Law, with the transition beginning immediately. “We’ve had a great run with Jeff as our leader. He has done an excellent job ...
Read more

Regent Alumna Nominated for Two Judgeships

Tanya Bullock, a 2000 Regent Law graduate, has been nominated for a judicial position on Virginia Beach’s Circuit Court and for a vacancy in the city’s General District Court. Bullock founded the firm Bullock & Cooper with her twin sister, a 2002 Regent Law graduate. Bullock has been honored numerous times for her outstanding work in the legal field and on behalf of the community. Awards include Inside Business’s Top 40 Under 40 and Hampton Roads’s Outstanding Professional Women . Previous to founding her firm, Bullock worked as a local prosecutor. Only four others were nominated for the Circuit Court vacancy, including a current general district judge and a former delegate. Ten others were nominated for the General District Court position. Nominations were submitted last month to the Virginia Beach Bar Association, which distributed the names to members and asked them to rate the nominees. When the General Assembly’s regular session convenes on January 13, 2010, the local ...
Read more