Georgia Law wins national mock trial competition

Abstract

Writer: Lona Panter, 706/542-5172, lonap@uga.edu Contact: Kellie Casey, 706/542-2739, krcasey@uga.edu

UGA law school wins national mock trial competition

Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia School of Law recently won the Third Annual South Texas Mock Trial Challenge, overcoming approximately 30 teams from law schools across the county to bring home the national championship.

Third-year law students David B. Dove, Adam J. Fitzsimmons, Margaret E. “Maggy” Randels and Emily K. Westberry represented UGA in the tournament and also prepared the second-best brief in the contest.

The team was undefeated in the tournament, which was held March 27-30 in Houston, beating teams from Samford University (in the final round to become champions), the University of Florida, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Seton Hall University, Catholic University, the University of California Hastings College of Law and the South Texas College of Law.

Georgia Law Director of Advocacy Kellie Casey said she considers this mock trial tournament to be the best in the nation. “South Texas College of Law, led by Rob Galloway, invites the best teams in the country, has the most qualified panel of judges and includes a brief writing component. The level of competition was astounding, and I couldn't be more proud of our students who displayed not only outstanding advocacy skills but also a professional camaraderie with their opposing teams. They were just spectacular!”

The case the students argued centered on whether an agency taking action to remove two individuals off a heart transplant list was arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion after it was discovered the two people were involved in a financial transaction regarding the heart.

Created in honor of Texas trial lawyer John O’Quinn, this mock trial tournament is hosted each year by the South Texas College of Law. Previously, Georgia Law teams finished as quarterfinalists in 2012 and 2013.

UGA School of Law Consistently regarded as one of the nation’s top public law schools, the School of Law at the University of Georgia was established in 1859. With an accomplished faculty, which includes authors of some of the country’s leading legal scholarship, Georgia Law offers three degrees—the Juris Doctor, the Master of Laws in U.S. Law and the Master in the Study of Law—and is home to the renowned Dean Rusk Center for International Law and Policy. The school counts six U.S. Supreme Court judicial clerks in the last nine years among its distinguished alumni body of more than 9,700. For more information, please see www.law.uga.edu.

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