Feb. 12, 2008
Students from the School of Law were victorious in mock trial and client counseling competitions held this past weekend.
Two teams from the School of Law advanced to the semifinal round of the Texas Young Lawyers Association Northeast Regional National Trial Advocacy Competition held Feb. 7-10 at Middletown Superior Court in Middletown, Conn. Quinnipiac and the University of Connecticut School of Law co-hosted the event.
TYLA is one of the oldest and most prestigious annual mock trial competitions in the United States; every ABA-accredited law school in the country is invited to compete.
Twenty-two teams from 11 schools competed, and eight teams advanced to the semifinal round. School of Law students who competed included: Christopher Kenworthy, Amy Calvo, Allison Worysz, Ryan O'Neill, Jennifer Springer, Timothy Smith, Sean McGuinness and Natalie Rezek. Adjunct law professor Jennifer Nowak, alumna Sara Simeonides and the Mock Trial Honor Society coached the students.
The team of Calvo, O'Neill and Worysz advanced to the final round, achieving an overall win-loss record of 5-0. O'Neill won the Best Advocate Award for the final trial. The team will represent the School of Law at the national competition held in Austin, Texas, in March.
Last year, the School of Law's team of Isaias Diaz, Michael Schweitzer and Worysz, with alternate Jodie Comer, defeated students from five northeast law schools and competed in the championship round in Texas.
Quinnipiac law students also competed in the American Bar Association Client Counseling Competition on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the School of Law Center.
Quinnipiac hosted the regional competition in which 12 teams from eight schools in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut competed, including two teams from Quinnipiac: Kara Hinesley and Abraham Hurdle, and Stephen Cho and Stephanie Ma. Associate professor of law Carolyn Kaas, law students Sean Barrett and Andrew Sipperley, and the Society for Dispute Resolution helped prepare the students.
Both teams from the School of Law advanced to the semifinal round after the three preliminary rounds. The team of Cho and Ma won the final round and will represent the School of Law at the National Client Counseling Competition held in New York in March.
The School of Law hosted this year's competition because the Quinnipiac team of Laura Meny '07 and Beth Daponte '09 won the regional competition last year, held at Pace University in New York. The competition is organized and run by law students serving on the executive board of the Society for Dispute Resolution.