Syracuse University College of Law Wins Loyola Law School Los Angeles’ 11th Annual National Civil Trial Competition

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Syracuse University College of Law was announced as the champion of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles’ 11^th Annual National Civil Trial Competition (NCTC) on Sunday, November 18, 2012 at an awards banquet held at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, CA. The winning members of the Syracuse University College of Law team included Christopher DeFrancisco, Jason Feldman, Mary Louise Wright, and Ryan Campbell. The “Best Advocate/Final Rounds” award and the “Best Advocate/Preliminary Rounds” award went to Jason Feldman from Syracuse University College of Law.

“You must have confidence in yourself to become a great trial lawyer.”

The tournament was started in 2002 by Loyola Law School Prof. Susan Poehls (www.lls.edu) and has been sponsored by the Santa Monica, CA law firm of Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP (www.greene-broillet.com) since its inception.

Each law school that participated in the competition sent a team of four students currently enrolled in the Law School’s J.D. program. The teams were required to act as witnesses and advocates, and had to argue both sides of a hypothetical civil lawsuit based on a real life unlawful violence and unlawful termination case where an actress alleged that she was struck across the face by her show’s creator and was terminated shortly after making a formal complaint to studio executives.

“The National Civil Trial Competition is a fun and interactive way for Law students to partake in mock trial scenarios.” Stated Prof. Susan Poehls. “Each student that competes has the opportunity to showcase their knowledge of the law to prestigious lawyers and judges. This gives the competitors a chance to make their first introductions to contacts in the legal community that will last a lifetime. We would like to thank everyone who continues to support the competition making it one of the top-tier law school trial competitions in the Unites States”

“You must have confidence in yourself to become a great trial lawyer.” stated Timothy J. Wheeler, managing partner of Greene Broillet & Wheeler and a Member of Loyola Law School’s Class of 1978. “The National Civil Trial Competition allows each student competing to try out their own techniques in a courtroom scenario, which will help them gain the confidence they need to become a great trial lawyer. Professor Poehls has helped multiple students find their beginnings as future trial lawyers, and is the exact reason why Greene Broillet and Wheeler has supported the NCTC since its inception.”

The annual three-day competition began on November 16, 2012 with the first elimination round at the Santa Monica Courthouse. On November 18, 2012 the semi-final and final rounds were argued on campus at Loyola’s Girardi Advocacy Center. The four law schools in contention for the championship were: Cumberland School of Law, Duquesne University School of Law, Stetson University College of Law, and Syracuse University College of Law. Syracuse University College of Law beat Stetson University College of Law in the semi-finals to advance to the finals, and Duquesne University School of Law beat Cumberland School of Law to also advance to the finals.

More than 100 members of the greater Los Angeles legal community volunteered as tournament judges. The “Final Rounds” of the National Civil Trial Competition were presided over by Federal Magistrate Judge Jay Ghandi. Also judging these rounds were Christine Spagnoli and Geoffrey Wells with Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP, Angela Agrusa with Liner Grode et al, Hagop Kuyumjian with Geragos & Geragos, and Thomas Girardi with Girardi & Keese. The “Preliminary Rounds” were presided over by Judge Shellie Samuels, Judge Tomson Ong, and Judge William McTaggart. Judging the “Semi-Final Rounds” were Scott Carr with Greene Broillet & Wheeler, Amy Solomon with Girardi & Keese, Carl Douglas with The Douglas Firm, Chad Pratt with Chad T-W Pratt & Associates, John O’Malley with Fullbright & Jaworski, LLP, and Robert Baker with Baker Keener & Nahra LLP. The 16 law schools competing this year included: Baylor Law School; Charlotte School of Law; Chicago-Kent College of Law; Cumberland School of Law; Duquesne University School of Law; Loyola Law School, Los Angeles; Loyola University of Chicago School of Law; University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law; St. Mary’s University School of Law; Stetson University College of Law; Suffolk University Law School; Syracuse University College of Law; Temple University Beasley School of Law; University of Akron School of Law; University of Houston Law Center; and Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NCTC PROGRAM
	Brian Costello
	Deputy Director of Communications
	Loyola Law School (www.lls.edu)
	Tel: [phone]
	Email: [e-mail]
PRESS CONTACT
	Audra Philbin
	Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP (www.greene-broillet.com)
	Tel: [phone],
	Email: [e-mail]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Photographs are available upon request.