The University of Wisconsin Law School Mock Trial Team tied for First Place in the Region 9 Tournament of the National Trial Competition in February 2009.  The UW team will advance to compete against the winners of 13 other regions from across the nation at the national tournament in March.

Members of the winning Wisconsin team were Peter Maris 1L, Hanna Kolberg 2L, and Colleen Brown 3L. Both Maris and Kolberg were competing in their first mock trial competition. 

The National Trial Competition, the premier trial advocacy tournament in the United States, is sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Texas Young Lawyers Association.  The trial competition involves more than 1,000 law students competing on 280 teams and representing 147 U.S. law schools.

The region in which the UW team finished as a finalist consisted of 18 teams from law schools throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. Co-champion with Wisconsin was Washington University School of Law.                        

The winning UW team will now join other regional winners to compete in the national championships in San Antonio, Texas, March 25-28.

Coaches of the team were Mullen Dowdal of the Legal Research and Writing faculty, and Travis West of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek. Dowdal commented, “My co-coach and I are very grateful to the UW Law School community and local practitioners, including Mary Prosser, Bob Kasieta, Dean Strang, Eric Ryberg, Paul Gordon, Phil Ferris, Mark Hazelbaker, Rick Lewandowski, Jeff McIntyre, Tony Sievert, and Kene Okocha, who each provided invaluable insight during practice trials.”

The UW entered two teams in the regional tournament.  The second UW team consisted of Nate Otis 2L, Payal Khandhar 3L, and Connor Sabbatino 3L. “This team also performed well, but was eliminated by stiff competition before the semi-final round,” Dowdal said.

The teams conducted a criminal trial involving dog fighting charges. In the preliminary rounds, the UW teams defeated teams from the University of Iowa, Washington University, and St. Louis University.  In the championship round, the UW defeated the University of Minnesota in a closely scored match.

 
 


 




  

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