Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:
The Buffalo Niagara Mock Trial Competition

Cadets at attention! Sit up straight! Shoulders back! FRE 403 GO!

Although this may sound very similar to Air Force officer training, it is not. In fact, this is what I like to call "Buff Ni Trial Team" training. With the Buffalo Niagara Mock Trial Competition quickly approaching, the pressure is on. However, the John Marshall team of students deals with this pressure by saying “BRING IT ON!” Teammates Christina Morrison, Anthony Sam, Steven Tschiggfrie, and I, Julia Mezher, along with the help of our coaches – Assistant Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution Director Lance Northcutt and new Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Meredith Shane – have all been working on a common goal: to bring home the gold for John Marshall.

The Buffalo Niagara Mock Trial Competition involves the case of People v. Bolde, your typical game of Clue®. The victim in this case – Dean Ivan Strong, the Dean of Buffalo Niagara School of Law – was murdered. But the question is by whom? Well, as usual, there are two sides to the story.

On one side, Anthony Sam and Christina Morrison are playing the roles of the prosecution. Claiming that the defendant in this case, James Bolde, was so enraged by the fact that the Dean not only took his job, but he took his girlfriend as well - they seem to have motive and opportunity.

On the other side, Defense counsel knows the real story. Julia Mezher and Steve Tschiggfrie, arguing for the defense, know that it could have been three different people and will not give up until they prove that their client is innocent. Who are these other potential murderers? First, there is Aaron Knight, the dean’s nephew. Not only did these men share a love for the law, but they shared their love for one particular law student, Virginia Res. When the Dean confronted Aaron about this, did it push Aaron over the edge? Or maybe it was a second possible murderer, Samuel Menton, a law professor whose teaching contract was not renewed by the Dean? Or maybe it was even the third suspect, Jude Iscariate, Virginia Res’ ex-boyfriend? The possibilities seem to be endless.

Figuring out who to blame is the name of this particular game!

Stay tuned to find out the results on November 14th.

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Now Playing:
The ABA Negotiation Competition

In less than two weeks John Marshall will send two negotiation teams off to Champaign, Illinois to compete in the 2009 ABA Negotiation Competition. The problem is both challenging and relevant in today’s Labor and Employment Law environment.

In three rounds of negotiation JMLS will represent a man named Elias Smith who was diagnosed with an AIDS-related illness. This devastating illness forced Elias to take extensive time off work as a prominent wedding photographer for Unforgettable Photos, LLC. Round one presents a complicated set of issues involving a drastically modified health insurance plan that seemingly targets AIDS-related illnesses, revision of Unforgettable Photo’s employee handbook regarding a statute similar to the Family Medical Leave Act, and a change in job duties amounting to a demotion for Mr. Smith. The MFMLA act (the Massatoba Family and Medical Leave Act) will be discussed in the framework of two possible ways a certain twelve (12) week leave period should commence. From our team's point of view, we want the 12 week period to start at the beginning of each calendar year, however our opposition will most likely argue the rolling period of 12 weeks to be measured forward from the date any employee’s first leave is taken. Hopefully, we can quickly resolve this issue to move on to morebcritical issues for Elias which include health insurance policies. His lifetime coverage has changed from $1 million to $200,000. We will work with Unforgettable Photo’s attorneys on changing their prescription drug coverage, lifetime limit for all conditions, current co-pays, and monthly premiums to avoid insolvency and get the needed coverage for our client.

Round two brought more drastic life changes to Elias. After his sister died, leaving her only daughter in his care, he began to miss work as a result of his niece’s panic attacks. Unforgettable Photos terminated Elias for “unexcused absences” by a verbally abusive supervisor. In this round, we have already filed a complaint and Unforgettable Photos is meeting with us to try and resolve the situation out of court. In order to do that we  have certain demands including a lump sum to compensate Elias for about a year out of work, a possible career opportunity with Unforgettable Photos and certain remedial polices we feel should be in place.

There are no confidential facts for round three as we must advance to the final round in order to get these. However, we are all very excited about the competition and have a feeling we’ll have our hands on those confidential facts soon enough!  

Stay tuned!

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Want to Earn 3 Credits in only 10 Days?

Every summer and winter break, the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution at The John Marshall Law School provides students with an opportunity to earn three credits in ten days. Twice a year, the Center offers to interested students a course taught by judges and legal professionals,who have been dubbed “Masters of the Bench” by former students. This course is Accelerated Trial Advocacy.

I was fortunate enough to participate in the Accelerated Trial Advocacy course last January. And I have to admit, it was one of the best classes I have taken in my law school tenure. During the course I learned firsthand from half a dozen judges and several top-notch area attorneys how to structure my argument in a courtroom and prepare for trial.

Students who participate in the Accelerated Trial Advocacy program also have several other advantages. Not only do they get to complete an entire 3-credit course in only 10 days, but they do it at a time when they have no other classes. There is no other course for students to worry about during the 10-day time period. Classes are taught in either early August or in early January. They are taught at a time when students tend to not worry about five different classes with their long reading assignments, enduring essays, or terrifying exams. Further, students are taught not by one professor, but by up to nine professors. Many of these professors are judges who each have fascinating stories on their experiences sitting at the bench during trial.

The greatest benefit of taking the Accelerated Trial Advocacy course is that not only do students learn and practice in preparation for trial, but they learn real-world experiences on what to do and not do.

Accelerated Trial Advocacy is organized so that students meet for every day for 10 days straight. The students arrive at school in the morning and meet with one professor in a small group setting. This professor teaches the small group of students a different part of trial each day (including opening statements, direct examination, cross examination, and closing arguments). Then, in the last few hours of each day, all of the students in the program meet together and are taught in detail about a specific subject of trial advocacy. This goes on for eight days. On the last two days, the students compete in a mock trial advocacy tournament, where they travel to the Daley Center and compete in a courtroom, arguing before a final trial evaluator.

The next Accelerated Trial Advocacy course will be taught this January. The course is scheduled for January 5th – 14th. In mid-November, students will be able to register for this course. If you have not already taken Trial Advocacy, and have taken Evidence I highly suggest and recommend you consider Accelerated Trial Advocacy.

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The Civil Trial Panel Discussion

On Thursday, October 15th, from noon to 1:00 p.m. in room 503, the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution and the Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution Honors Board hosted the second Panel Discussion of the semester. The event continued the tradition by being a great success. More than thirty students came to hear four legal professionals discuss the “trials” and tribulations of a civil trial.

Students received guidance and advice on how to properly prepare for the daily life of a civil trial attorney. The audience heard stories, examples, and insights from the perspective of four well-established legal professionals. The panel consisted of three attorneys: Jennifer Irmen of Bruce Farrel Dorn & Associates, Edward Eberspacher of O’Hagan Spencer, and Thomas Gamache of Slavin & Slavin; as well as a special guest: the Honorable Jeffrey Lawrence, a judge in Cook County’s Law Division. Additionally, the panel was moderated by Trial Advocacy Assistant Director Lance Northcutt, who also is an experienced trial attorney.

Each of the panelists was given the opportunity to explain how their profession relates to preparing and participating in civil trials. Not surprisingly, the panelists agreed with each other on several points regarding how to be a successful litigator. They kept the audience engaged with personal stories of what they have seen other attorneys do that no one should ever do! For example, one speaker informed the audience to always double-check an order prepared by opposing counsel, because if you sign off on it without reading it and the opposing counsel was very sneaky and wrote something in their client’s favor, the court’s hands could be tied on the matter. Along the same lines, the panelists suggested that all of the future lawyers in the audience should be cordial with their fellow law students because they never know if people will one day be their opposing counsel, or, even worse, the judge they are appearing before!

The panelists further clarified that a civil litigator does not merely go to trial, but that preparing for trial is a long and arduous process. It sometimes takes years for a case to reach the trial stage. The panelists explained that trial is even rarer for young first-year attorneys. This is because the partners in firms, especially the smaller firms, tend to go to trial, while the first year associates do a lot of the slow-moving but necessary preparation. This includes taking depositions and preparing discovery.

Overall, the panelists were extremely insightful and helpful to the future attorneys in the audience. Stay tuned as the semester continues as there will be one more lunch panel discussion. The "Criminal Trial" panel is scheduled for November 17th, in 503 from noon to 1:00 p.m.

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