The Results Are In.

Written by Katie Siefert

The AAJ teams took third place honors this weekend!  After a grueling two days of preliminary rounds, the two John Marshall teams occupied the first and third rank with overall points. With 18 teams competing, it was a tough competition, but because of the dedication and hard work of the 8 team members, the team continued to advance through the rounds to the semifinals.

Team members include: Steve Tschiggfrie, Katie Siefert, plaintiff’s counsel and Jeannie LaBarbara and Glenn Curran for the defense; Christina Morrison and Daniel Yukich, plaintiff’s counsel and Megan Ortner and Katie Hagerty for the defense.  With a very straight-forward problem, objections and arguments were few and far between.  The scoring and voting of the evaluators came down to style, presentation, and overall effectiveness.  Though just 4 points shy of advancing to the finals, Team AAJ was extremely excited by the opportunity to litigate in such a prestigious competition.

A special thanks to our coaches, Meredith Shane, Matt Sims, Cheyne Adam, and Lance Northcutt.  We couldn’t have done it without you!

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ABA Representation in Mediation Competition Results

Written by Brandon Rogers

Congratulations to The John Marshall Law School American Bar Association Mediation Advocacy Team.  The team, consisting of Brandon Rogers, Elizabeth Braswell, Joe Jakubowski, Martha Choromanska, Felicia Ganther, and Elizabeth Homsy placed third this weekend in the Midwest regional competition.

This past weekend, John Marshall entered two teams into the American Bar Association Mediation Advocacy Midwest Regional Competition.  The regional tournament consisted of 12 teams from law schools all over the Midwest.  The competition was hosted at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, and drew in judges, attorneys, and professional mediators from all over Illinois and Missouri.  The winner of the Midwest region will take the trip to San Francisco in April to compete in the National Competition; although John Marshall won’t be making the trip to San Francisco this year, it was a successful weekend for all our competitors.

Team One, consisting of Brandon Rogers and Liz Braswell, competed against Marquette University in the first round on Saturday, February 27, at the new Anheuser-Bush Law School.  Team Two, Felicia Ganther and Joe Jakubowski, went up against the prestigious Hamlin University in Minnesota. 

The second round, which was held later the same day, had Team One going against the host Washington University and Team Two facing Marquette.  On Saturday evening, all 12 teams, their coaches, and judges, crammed into a small room at the law school, eagerly awaiting the results of the first two rounds.  Unfortunately, only two teams advanced onto the finals in the largest and most competitive ADR regional competition in the nation on Sunday and John Marshall narrowly missed the cut off by 3 points, placing third overall. 

After a long weekend, the team is grateful to their coaches, Professor Liz Simon and JMLS alumnus Ian Bucciarelli, for the long hours spent in practices.  The team knew they wouldn’t have made it that far without all their dedication and expertise.   Congratulations to the ABA team and coaches for finishing third in the Midwest in St. Louis this weekend!

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The 711 License

Written by Julia Mezher

Do you want to get some practice in a courtroom but can’t because you are a still a law student? Well I have great news for you.  There is a way that you can do just that.  If you are a law school student who has earned at least 53 credit hours you may qualify for a 711 license. This license will allow you to actually practice law under the supervision of a practicing attorney. However, there is one limitation: this license is not available to students who work at private law firms. If you work for a governmental entity then you can apply for the license and be able to actually practice law.

To apply for the 711 license visit www.state.il.us/court and follow the instructions on the site and see the Registrar's Office on 3.   Speaking from personal experience, it takes about two weeks  to receive the license after you apply for it. Once you get it though, there is nothing better than getting actual real life experience.  This is not only a great way to boost your resume, but also your confidence. 

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Coach's Perspective: Ron Rascia

Written by Christina Morrisson

Q: What do you in your professional career?
A:  I have worked for the Attorney General’s Office, I was the Civil Prosecutions Supervisor of the Attorney General’s Office for 9 years, as well as 20 years private practice.  I also teach at The John Marshall Law School as an adjunct in both Legal Writing and the Externship program.

Q: What coursers do you teach?   
A:  I teach Lawyering Skills II, Lawyering Skills III: Civil Litigation Drafting, the classroom component for the Local Government Externship Program, and part of the Basic Skills Course.  I also teach for the National Association of Attorney General Trial Advocacy Skills.

Q:  Have you coached any Alternate Dispute Resolution team?
A:  Yes, this year is the third year that I have coached the client-counseling team. We recently competed in the American Bar Association Client Counseling Regional Competition at Marquette.

Q:  When are students picked for the client-counseling team?
A:  Students are chosen late in the late Fall semester.  They begin practicing after finals and then compete in the Spring.

Q:  How many students are picked for the Client Counseling team?
A:  The Competition team consists of 2 students and 1 alternate.  This year we have 2 teams, with 4 students that competed as live competitors and 2 students acted as alternates.  We also have 2 extra students that were chosen to get involved.  All together there were 8 students chosen for the team.  After the students are chosen for the team, they begin working together and then there is a decision made as to who will compete in the competition.

Q: Do you coach the team by yourself?
A:  No, I coach the team with Sheri Mecklenburg, who is an Assistant United States Attorney.

Q:  Do you personally view the student’s try-out for the competition?
A:  I either go live to the actual tryouts or I watch the tryout videos.

Q:  What qualities do you look for in selecting a student for a Client Counseling Team?
A:  I look for students who might be able to work with a partner, in order to develop chemistry and a sense of team work.  I look for students who I can teach all the skills to prepare a client.  I also look for personality, self-confidence in the ability to try some “new stuff,” because Client Counseling is an artificial skill set that you are exposed to, and whether the student is a “people person” is also important.

Q:  Are there any other qualities that you look for in selecting students for a Client Counseling team?
A:  I also look for students who are interested in moving on from year to year, especially 1L students that would like to continue to compete in the following years, which helps the team to do well in the competitions when you have “experienced” students competing on the team.  It is also important to choose students who can commit themselves to their “practice schedule” in the same manner as they do in their law school education.   I also look for students with interesting backgrounds, which allows for different life skills that can help with their performance.

Q:  What can students gain from being on a Client Counseling Team?
A:  The students gain a “real-life skill.”   They learn how to speak with a client, which involves a lot, they need to be able to listen, mixing a sense of empathy and counseling with the law.  This skills set helps you to develop how people accept you as a lawyer and have confidence in you to trust you with their legal matters.   This skills set will also give students the self confidence and competence and the ability to convey all of this in an interview process.

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Aleksandra Spevacek

Written by Steve Tschiggfrie

Trial Advocacy Honors Board Position: Public Relations Coordinator

Q. Where did you grow up?
A. I grew up in a suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin – if there can be a suburb of such a small town – in De Pere, a city of about 25,000 people.  

Q. As a kid did you know you wanted to be a lawyer?
A. I definitely did not think I wanted to be a lawyer.  For a long time I wanted to be a forensic anthropologist (isn’t that every 8 year-old’s dream?).  Then I wanted to be a singer.  I was the lead in my school’s musicals, performed in show choir, was in a band – the whole deal.  That dream actually lasted until my first year in College.  

Q. What happened to make that change?
A. I started college by going to North Dakota State University in Fargo.  I quickly realized that there were a million people with just as much (or more) talent as I had, but who wanted “it” more than I did.  So I changed my focus to something else creative that I had a passion for, which was fashion.  I moved to Chicago and finished my undergrad degree at Columbia College, just down the street from John Marshall in the Fashion Studies program.  My degree program required me to take a class called “Arts in the Legal Environment.”  From that day on I was hooked and I knew I wanted to be an attorney and work with creative clients.  

Q. How have you pursued that desire at John Marshall?
A. I have taken a TON of intellectual property classes during the last three years, starting with the LS I and II courses designed for students interested in IP.  After my first year, I started an internship program with the company that owns brands like The North Face and Seven Jeans in their trademark and licensing department.  I also worked for an IP firm in the city last summer and I was recently published in the John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law.  Due to all of those IP classes and my experience on the journal I earned my J.D. Certificate in Intellectual Property, of which I am very proud.  

Q. Do you want to practice IP litigation or transactional IP?
A. I would love to do IP litigation – particularly patent litigation, even though I don’t have a “hard science” background.  One of the most enjoyable parts of litigation, for me, is breaking down complicated issues so that everyone in the room – the judge, the jury, the spectators – feels like they are part of the story and can understand exactly what is going on.  

Q. How did you get into litigation and trial teams?
A. It all started with the 1L Mock Trial competition.  My friends were not very interested in it, so I wrangled up a team of people that didn’t really know each other, including Julia Mezher – the Presiding Barrister of the Trial Ad Board – and Megan Ortner – one of the members of this semester’s AAJ team.  We ended up doing well enough to be invited to join the Trial Ad Council and to participate in the summer pilot program.  I took Trial Lawyer my first semester of my 2L year and, as a result, was eligible to try out a semester earlier than the other 2Ls.  I ended up being selected for the Buffalo-Niagara team my first semester.  After that competition, I was hooked.  

Q. Which competitions have you participated in?
A. I competed at Buffalo-Niagara’s Criminal Law competition twice  - once my first year, when we were semi-finalists and this fall when we won the competition.  I was also on the 2009 AAJ team, when we took second place at regionals.  

Q. What has been the most valuable part of being on trial teams?
A. I have learned an incredible amount about being an effective advocate from my team members and my coach.  I have been on teams with people who are strong oral advocates, incredibly knowledgeable about evidence, and who have a way with connecting with the judges and jury.  I tried to soak up as much as I could from the teammates that have those qualities and I am a much better advocate as a result of my ability to learn from them.  I also have had the unique opportunity to learn from a single coach.  Lance Northcutt taught me from the beginning of my experience, starting with the Pilot Program after my 1L year.  He was my coach the following three semesters, also.  He knew where I started as an advocate, and, as a result he was always able to push me to do better then the previous semester when we prepared for competition.  I am certainly a better advocate because of him.  

Q. How did you balance being on a Championship trial team and getting published?
A. I am a person that performs best when up against adversity.  I looked at the situation I was in and simply decided that whatever sleep or social interaction I had to lose, I had so much more to gain academically and personally.  I certainly lost a lot of sleep, and planning my wedding definitely was put on hold, but it was very worth it.  There are few occasions in law school that allow students to feel a sense of finality – a grade could always be better, a paper could always be a little more thorough, and we could all use a few extra hours in the day.  After placing first at the competition and being published, I felt a sense of finality and relief that was a first for me in law school.  After last semester, I am pretty sure I can handle anything life throws at me.  

Q. In what way has your trial ad experience benefitted your resume?
A. Well, my resume would be a lot shorter without it!  Had I not participated in the 1L competition, I wouldn’t have been eligible for Trial Ad Council or to try out for a team early.  Without that early experience, I wouldn’t have learned as much about advocacy and I probably wouldn’t have been asked to participate in the Buffalo-Niagara competition this year.  Because of the 1L competition, I am a Trial Ad Board member, a national champion, and a passionate advocate, all of which is reflected on my resume.  

Q. I hear you’re getting married soon.  How does a law school student find the time to plan a wedding?
A. The answer is in the question.  You find the time.  It goes back to persevering in the face of adversity and doing everything it takes to be proud of the end result.  In the end, it’s just like the rest of law school – it takes time management, prioritizing, and discipline.  A really fantastic fiancé who helps with everything from location to flowers also helps! ;)

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