Regent Law 2Ls Melissa Bergman, Danielle Temple, Elizabeth Toner, and Katie Burns won first place at the Intramural Trial Advocacy competition held January 23-24, 2009. This is the school’s 10th Annual opportunity for students to experience being trial attorneys.“Many competitors use [this competition] to decide if they want to become trial lawyers,” said Tammy Sossei, Intra-scholastic Coordinator for the Trial Ad Board. Competitors put what they’ve learned about the Rules of Evidence into practice, develop a case theory, and prepare witnesses. Still, with all the preparation, they still are forced to think on their feet.
“[T]he evidence can be read so that both parties have equally strong cases,” said Sossei. She added a description of what the teams had to research, noting, “This year the Defendant has been charged with premeditated murder and second degree auto theft. The victim was found in a dumpster with a gunshot wound to his head the day after he had an argument with the Defendant.”
Just the weekend before, January 15-17, 2009, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board hosted its annual Intramural Negotiations Competition. 2Ls Kyle Fuller and Seth Doherty ranked first in that competition where the problem was in Elder Law and involved negotiating trust disbursements and living arrangements of a widower.
Both competitions test the oral advocacy skills of students in a public forum, which gives students access to the larger legal community. Practitioners from the area volunteer to judge the competitions and give feedback to each participant.