On October 24, Madison Kewin, 2L, and Jessica Mugler, 2L, won the Cohen & Cohen Mock Trial Competition.
The Cohen & Cohen Mock Trial Competition concludes a semester-long, one-credit course for upper-level students. The competition is hosted by the Mock Trial Board, a student-run, honorary society dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in trial advocacy. This year, the competition was run by the following students on the board: Vice President for Internal Competitions Kisa Motiwala and Competition Co-Chairs Dina Goldman and Samual Hughes. The board conducts internal trial competitions, which are held under realistic conditions and judged by practicing litigators.
In the final round of the competition, Daniel Helinek and Matilde Piana represented the plaintiff against Ms. Kewin and Ms. Mugler, who argued for the defendant. The presiding judge was Lauren Johnson, who also serves as the mock trial external competition coach. Ms. Johnson is Senior Legal Counsel at the Justice Collaborative and was formerly Staff Attorney, Trial Division, Public Defender Service. Assistant Dean for Advocacy Programs David M. Johnson served as the jury/scoring judging.
Ms. Kewin and Ms. Mugler will receive the Cohen & Cohen Mock Trial Award during the annual graduation awards ceremony.
The mock trial competition is sponsored by Professorial Lecturer in Law Wayne R. Cohen, founder and managing partner of Cohen & Cohen, a personal injury law firm in Washington, DC, committed to representing the rights of injured victims.
Additionally, three students received Best Oral Advocate recognition based on their individual scores from the preliminary rounds. Ms. Mugler and Henry Finkelstein tied for Best Oral Advocate.
"This is our premier mock trial competition," said Assistant Dean Johnson. "We could not have done it without the sponsorship of Wayne Cohen and the hard work of our organizers and competitors. Thanks to all!"