A trial team of Hofstra Law students Helene Weiss 3L, Lauren Reilly 3L and Sean Brucker 2L won the Texas Young Lawyers National Mock Trial Competition for Region 2. The winning team advances to compete against the top 24 teams in the country in Dallas, Texas, on March 30-April 3, 2016. This is the second consecutive year that a Hofstra Law team has won the regional round.
Hofstra Law entered two teams into the competition. The second trial team — Carissa Danesi 3L, Brianne Richards 3L and Kyle Schiedo 3L — also reached the finals of the regional round.
Reilly won the Anthony DeMarco Best Advocate Award for the competition. In the preliminary rounds, Richards won third place for best cross, Weiss won third place for best opening, and Reilly won best summation.
The trial teams are coached by adjunct professors Gerard McCloskey ’08; Jared Rosenblatt ’03, faculty advisor to the Hofstra Trial Advocacy Association (HTAA); and Kaitlyn Flynn ’14, and volunteer Courtney Charles, under the supervision of Professor Barbara Barron ’84, director of student advocacy programs.
The National Trial Competition was established in 1975 to encourage and strengthen students’ advocacy skills through quality competition and valuable interaction with members of the bench and bar. The program is designed to expose law students to the nature of trial practice and to serve as a supplement to their education. It is the Texas Young Lawyers Association intent to provide a meaningful contribution to the development of future trial lawyers.