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NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

The Buffalo-Niagara Mock Trial Competition held this past weekend in Buffalo, New York, is the largest criminal law competition in the nation, with 32 law schools competing from 16 states.  The team members were Julia Mezher, Christina Morrison, Anthony Sam, Aleksandra Spevacek, and Steve Tschiggfrie, coached by Lance Northcutt and Meredith Shane.

The Competition began with the Preliminary Rounds Friday night at 6:00 p.m. with Christina Morrison and Anthony Sam appearing for the prosecution against Pace University.  The Round continued through Saturday with Aleksandra Spevacek and Steve Tschiggfrie presenting the defense case against Georgia State and later Christina and Anthony competed against Barry University in the third round.  Immdeiately following the Preliminary Rounds, the team attended the reception and awaited nervously to learn who advanced to the top 16 teams.  Announced in alphabetical order, and last was Team Q….The John Marshall Law School.  The excitement had just begun!

The team went back to the hotel to prepare for the single elimination rounds.  The next morning, Sunday, began the Sweet Sixteen Round. Christina and Anthony competed against a strong Widener team and advanced.  The next round, the Elite Eight, Aleksandra and Steve met Chicago-Kent in a close match, and advancing to the Semifinals.

On Monday morning the Semifinalists Round saw Aleksandra and Steve competing against Fordham.  This was another close match but another win for John Marshall, and placed the team into the top two competing in the final championship round.  Christina and Anthony for the prosecution competed in the final round against St. John’s (Queens) in one of Buffalo’s State Supreme Court courtrooms, with New York State Supreme Court Judge Dillon presiding.

The round was very close with a display of amazing advocacy skills by both teams.  The John Marshall team waited with excitement as Judge Dillon announced that this year’s Buffalo-Niagara Mock Trial Competition National Champions were - the members of TEAM Q!  The team was absolutely thrilled.

Not only did John Marshall take home the gold, team member Anthony Sam was honored as Best Overall Advocate. The Best Overall Advocate award is named for an avid mock trial member of the University of Buffalo Law School who was killed in a plane crash last year.  The whole family was there to present the award to Anthony.  The room was filled with feelings of remembrance and honor.

This weekend was such a great success for John Marshall.  The team had a wonderful time competing. It was such a fantastic experience and was well worth all the hard work.

John Marshall National Trial Advocacy Champions!

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A Monumental Effort at Georgetown

The Georgetown White Collar Crime Invitational was an exciting experience for all participants in the thirteenth edition of the nation’s only law school-level mock trial tournament focusing on White Collar Crime.  The team representing John Marshall consisted of Mark Abellera, Tiffany Elking, Vince Coyle, and Mary Scholl.  In the first round on Friday November 13th, at the Moultrie Courthouse, the defense team (Mary Scholl and Mark Abellera) faced Florida Coastal, the same team John Marshall faced last year in the semi-finals.  Both teams were surprised when the judge denied a housekeeping motion to “move about the well of the courtroom”, confining arguments and examinations to behind a podium.  The team was able to adapt and finished the round with great comments from all judges.

In the second round Saturday morning, the prosecution (Tiffany Elking and Vince Coyle) faced LSU in an exciting round full of passionate arguments on both sides.  The team was thrown for a curve, when the defense created a few facts allowing defendant to testify that a piece of evidence was never found on him during a search.  Coyle and Elking were able to effectively make their case, and ended strong with praises from all judges on both opening and closing arguments.

In the final round that Saturday afternoon the defense team faced Howard Law School.  The team was able to overcome the prosecution’s “inevitable discovery” argument to attempt to introduce documents of an illegal search.  With one round under their belt, the defense had a strong round, with excellent arguments from both participants.

The team unfortunately did not make it to the semi-final round on Sunday morning. However, they did have an entire day to tour the nation’s capitol.  Barry Law School, first time participants to the White Collar Crime Tournament, prevailed in the finals on Sunday afternoon.

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