Nov. 20, 2010

Twice is Nice for Pepperdine

Celebrities might want to hire Pepperdine's mock trial team for their next legal battle. The team won Saturday's 9th Annual National Civil Trial Competition (NCTC), arguing a hypothetical case based on the medical malpractice lawsuit surrounding the death of a celebrity's mother. Pepperdine claimed victory by a slim margin, 3-2, over University of Maryland School of Law in the final round. This marks their second NCTC win after taking home the gold in 2006. More than 40 law schools from across the country sought to participate in this year's competition, but only 16 were invited to compete. Each school sent a four-member team, and were required to argue both sides of the civil suit. Of the initial 16 teams, only Pepperdine, Maryland, Suffolk University Law School, and Washington University School of Law at St. Louis advanced to the semi-finals, argued on Loyola Law School's downtown Los Angeles campus. Stephen Hillman, a federal magistrate judge, presided over Pepperdine's winning round, along with Bruce Broillet and Christine Spagnoli of Santa Monica's Greene Broillet & Wheeler, as well as Thomas Mesereau and Susan Yu of Mesereau & Yu in Santa Monica. Held annually in November, the NCTC is a three-day invitational tournament created by Loyola professor Susan Poehls, and sponsored by Green Broillet & Wheeler. Far left: Pepperdine team member Amber Lee presents the case for the defense. Top left: Pepperdine's winning mock trial team. From left: Shane Michael, Brittany Lane, Amber Lee, coach Harry Caldwell, and John Barron. Top right: Michael presents a case for the defense. Bottom left: Michael and Lee congratulate each other after the final round of the NCTC. Bottom right: Michael and Lee work on their defense strategy during the final round.