Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School Moot Court/Mock Trial team advanced into the semi-final round of the Stetson National Pre-Trial Competition and finished third behind LSU and Texas Tech, and ahead of Baylor. This competition involved a pre-trial civil issue and requires both appellate and trial advocacy skills. It includes written briefs, oral arguments, direct & cross examinations of witnesses, and a closing argument. AJMLS also received the award for Best Defendant’s Memorandum of Law. This is the second year in a row that AJMLS has won a best brief award at this competition. That is certainly a compliment to our writing professors.
The following students are on the team: LoriBeth Westbrook (4L part-time); Jason McClendon (4L part-time); Michelle Sandler (3L); and Nickolas Kitchens (2L). They have been coached by our alumnus, Thomas Lyman, who also dedicated many hours to their preparation. The schools entered in the competition were Baylor, Chapman, Charleston, Chicago-Kent, Fordham, Golden Gate, LSU, Mississippi College, Northern Kentucky, Pace, Regent, Texas Tech, UDC, UMKC, and William & Mary.
The pairings of teams for the first two rounds was random. Our first round on Friday morning was against Northern Kentucky and we were assigned to be plaintiffs. The second round on Friday afternoon was against Regent. Our defense team was up. We were unfortunately assigned to a small seminar room, instead of a courtroom, and so, the technical aspects of presentation were challenging. The third round pairing of teams was power matched, meaning the pairings were based upon ranking of the teams. We were paired against Chicago-Kent and our defense team was up again. In the fourth round we competed against LSU.
These students and their coaches have worked tirelessly for the past several weeks and performed outstandingly at the competition. Congratulations on behalf of the law school.