Spotlight - UND Trial Team
UND Trial Team Wins Region 12 Trial Competition
Competes in National Trial Competition
for second consecutive year
The UND Trial Team of Lori Conroy, Dean DePountis, and Kasey McNary competed well in the National Trial Competition in San Antonio, Texas.
Despite weather-related travel arrangements that scattered the team over three different flights and had Dean and Kasey driving from Austin to San Antonio at 2:15 a.m. only to compete at 9:00 a.m. that same morning, the well-prepared team did an excellent job.
After three rounds of competition, only 8 of the 28 national finalists advanced to the elimination rounds and UND was not among them.
The final results of the first three rounds will not be released until later this spring. Congratulations to the members of the team who competed in Texas, as well as the other team members (Gabe Goter, Leah Johnson, Jonathan O'Konek, and Sandy Voller) who worked very hard to prepare the rest of the team.
Trial Team Send Off Event
March 24, starting at 12:00 p.m., Room 110
Please join the UND Law School staff in wishing the Trial Team good luck as they travel to the National Trial Team Competition in San Antonio, TX. We will have a send off beginning at noon on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 in room 110. Please stop by to sign a card and enjoy a Texas shaped sugar cookie prepared by the staff.
The UND Trial Team won the Region 12 Trial Competition held in Eugene, Oregon, and will move on to compete in the National Trial Competition, sponsored jointly by the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Texas Young Lawyers Association in San Antonio, Texas, March 25-28, 2009.
The team competed against 17 other teams representing law schools from eight states to earn this title. This is the second consecutive year the UND School of Law has qualified for nationals. Team coach Kate Traylor Schaffzin said, “By winning its Regional Tournament for the second year in a row, the UND Trial Team has established itself as a nationally recognized trial program.”
The three person team of third-year students Lori Conroy and Kasey McNary, and second year student Dean DePountis won all five of its arguments to win the regional title and qualify for the national finals. A second team of third-year student Leah Johnson Ellis and second-year students Jonathan O’Konek and Sandy Voller also competed well in the regional competition. In addition to the six competitors, the UND team includes third-year student Gabrielle Goter who provided critical support in research and writing throughout the year.
The lone returning member from last year’s trial team is Conroy. Her team of three competed in the final round of the 2008 regional competition but failed to qualify while the other UND team advanced. She said, “It has been more fun for me this year because I knew what to expect. It was a bit of a grudge year for me because we were so successful in the preliminary round last year and then to not make it was disappointing. It does say a lot about the trial advocacy program we are developing here. I think we proved last year was not just a fluke. Now we have established that we know what we are doing and we do it well.”
Conroy credits the success of the team to coaches Traylor Schaffzin and Daniel Schaffzin. “Their passion and commitment to the program is so contagious we can’t help but be excited about it, and we are willing to put in the time because we see them doing it and leading by example.”
The path to nationals was long and involved a big commitment for all seven team members. They have been preparing for the regional tournament since October. In preparation, they developed arguments from both the prosecution and defense sides of the case, knowing they could be asked to argue either side during the competition. As the competition neared, they held practice sessions each week on Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and in addition each individual would spend more than 20 hours a week in preparing outside of practice.
The competition, hosted by the University of Oregon School of Law, began with three qualifying trials. The team won their first trial Friday night as the defense and qualified for the second day winning two trials on Saturday as the prosecution. Sunday’s final arguments included two more victories as the defense, locking up their trip to San Antonio. Conroy participated in all arguments while McNary rotated in when the team represented the prosecution and DePountis when the team represented the defense. The fictional case was a criminal one based loosely on the real life situation of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick’s involvement with dog fighting.
Over the next two weeks, the entire team will embark on an intensive practice schedule to prepare for the national competition. “The Trial Team is fortunate to have the help of Fellows from the American College of Trial Lawyers, North Dakota Supreme Court Justices, North Dakota State Court Judges, and other skilled trial attorneys from across the state as it prepares for the competition,” said Traylor Schaffzin. Their preparation will take the team to both Bismarck and Fargo for mock trials.
The growth and success of the UND Trial Team has not only provided the opportunity for students to compete on a regional and national level, but has also prepared them for future success as practicing attorneys. “The preparation for this is very realistic and intense, we learn how to think about a case and how it presents to a jury, how to draft opening statements, closing arguments, and do cross examination. We also spend a great deal of time learning the rules of evidence,” said Conroy. “I appeared in my first real case in Federal Court in front of Judge Ralph Erickson last summer, and although I was still nervous, my experience helped me know what was appropriate, how to move around the courtroom and I was comfortable with the rules of evidence.”
