Fort Worth Business Press - Texas Wesleyan School of Law - Texas ...

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a result, he and Ippolito advanced to the
international finals in the summer of 2011,
where they represented Texas Wesleyan
and the United States in Copenhagen and
earned the Joint Maximizing Award. Elliott
and Watts coached the winning team.
This school year began with a bang when
2L Joshua Graham, 3L Graham Norris
and 3L Adam Swartz’s team won our
newest national championship at the
Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon.
This unique competition requires
students to compete in the fields of
negotiation, mediation and arbitration,
all concerning the challenging subject
of securities. The competition is hosted
by FINRA and St. John’s Law School in
New York. The team, coached by Elliott,
defeated 17 other teams from around
the nation to win the title.
Texas Wesleyan will be attending nine
other competitions across the three
disciplines this fall, and 11 in the spring
semester. Team members are selected
by tryouts held before the director of
advocacy programs and a selection of
coaches from that discipline. Professor
recommendations and performance at
in-school competitions can also play a
factor in team selection. Both part-time
and full-time students are eligible to
participate, and students receive course
credit for serving on a competition
team. Students also receive invaluable
experience. The subject matter is often
one that will either be covered on the bar
examination, or one that will help them
in future internships or in the practice
of law. They are able to hone their
advocacy skills of public speaking and
persuasive writing. They are also given
the opportunity to meet local practicing
attorneys who act as judges during
team practices, and the adjunct faculty
coaches become very familiar with
each student’s abilities and work ethic.
Michael Zimprich ’11 was champion in the
2010 Jeffry S. Abrams National Mediator
Competition. — Photo by Dan Brothers
To be able to win
numerous titles
demonstrates the talent
and dedication of our
students and coaches.
These are useful connections when
securing future potential employment
and references.
Most exciting this spring is the invitation
to compete in the Moot Court National
Championship. Three years ago, the
University of Houston’s Blakely Advocacy
Institute implemented an intricate ranking
system for all moot court programs in
the nation. Schools receive points based
on performance at competitions. Only
national competitions can receive points,
and more points are received based on
size of the competition. At the end of the
school year, the top ranked schools are
invited to participate in a “best of the
best” competition.
4
For the first time ever, Texas Wesleyan
has qualified for an invitation to this
competition. The tremendous success
of Thompson, Smith and Herrera’s team
at the ABA National Appellate Advocacy
Competition contributed in large part to
this invitation. Points were also received
for two national semifinalist awards.
3L Jo Pate, Jill Smith ’12 and 3L Kline
Pillow’s team received that honor at the
2011 Chicago Bar National Moot Court
Competition. Francesca Scanio ’12,
Jim Mathew ’12 and 3L Kyle Fonville’s
team did the same at the 2012 Gibbons
National Criminal Procedure Moot Court
Competition. Melinda Westmoreland ’06
of the Tarrant County district attorney’s
office coached both teams. Finally,
points were received when 3L Brent
Chapell won Best Petitioner’s Brief at the
2011 Pepperdine National Entertainment
Law Moot Court Competition.
For the first time in several years,
Texas Wesleyan was able to, once
again, achieve success at the national
level in mock trial. In addition to the
success of the national finals qualifying
team, teammates Marissa Warms ’12,
Jessica Brumm ’12, 3L Graham Norris
and 3L David McClellend were national
octofinalists at the South Texas Mock
Trial Challenge. Joshua Burgess, of the
U.S. attorney’s office, coached the team.
The time leading up to competition is
arduous and requires hard work and
preparation. Students practice for several
hours, three times a week for about a
month, with further training devoted
individually between practices. Moot
court requires an additional month to
research and write an extensive appellate
brief prior to the preparation for oral
argument. Many advocacy students
must balance this time commitment with