DU-Lawyer Summer 2014-FINAL[1]

STUDENT BRIEFSTrial AdvocacyDuquesne Wins Gourley Cup ChampionshipDuquesne University School of Law won the 41st annualAcademy of Trial Lawyers Mock Trial Competition in February,bringing home the coveted Gourley Cup. After beating Universityof Pennsylvania and outscoring all of the plaintiff teams—including Howard University, Catholic University, College ofWilliam & Mary, American University, University of Pittsburghand Widener University Harrisburg—Duquesne’s team of LauraPitchford, Joshua Ward, Nicholas Yovich and Madi Bobb defeatedWidener University Delaware by a one-point margin in a toughand close battle. In addition to the championship win, JoshuaWard was named Best Advocate.Madi Bobb, Laura Pitchford, Joshua Ward and Nicholas YovichDuquesne vs. Duquesne in American Association for Justice Regional CompetitionIt is extremely rare to have two teams from the same schoolface each other for a win, but that’s exactly what happened at theAmerican Association for Justice Regional Competition in March.Two Duquesne teams outscored 14 others, including those fromPennsylvania State University (the No. 1 seed), Drexel, Rutgers,University of Oklahoma, University of Pittsburgh, University ofTulsa, West Virginia University and Widener University, on theway to the final round.The championship featured Duquesne vs. Duquesne, withAlex Poorman, Autumn Pividori, Kathleen Shoaff and AndrewRothey facing Aubrey Smith, Asra Hashmi, Nicholas Jimenez andKara Lattanzio. After almost three hours of grueling competitionand zealous advocacy, one team emerged as champions and oneas finalists.The team of Poorman, Pividori, Shoaff and Rothey won thecompetition and moved on to the AAJ nationals in Santa Monica,Calif., in April. One of only 14 regional champions competing,Duquesne defeated the eventual winner, University of Akron, aswell as Chicago-Kent and California Western to advance to thequarterfinals of the national event.Special thanks go out to Professor S. Michael Streib, directoremeritus, and Professor Amelia Michele Joiner, director, for theirleadership of the trial advocacy program over the years. Streib,a 1979 grad, is retiring after more than 30 years of service toDuquesne University School of Law. Joiner, a 2002 grad, is leavingto become director of trial advocacy and associate professor oflegal skills at Stetson University College of Law. We wish themAlex Poorman, Autumn Pividori, Kathleen Shoaff and Andrew RotheyTrial Advocacy Alumni Coaches: 2013-2014S. Michael Streib L’79Amelia Michele Joiner L’02Brock McCandless L’09Lisa M. Barnett L’09Peter Giglione L’02Alicia Nocera L’09duq.edu/law/trialadvocacyLisa Mantella L’06Katie Chengery McGee L’11Elbert Gray L’03Erica Lombardo L’13Julian Neiser L’01Clancy Boylan L’12both the best of luck. Duquesne’s program has become one ofthe strongest trial advocacy programs in the nation thanks totheir leadership.Best Wishes to Professor JoinerCongratulations to Professor Amelia Michele Joiner, who has accepted a position as director oftrial advocacy and associate professor of legal skills at Stetson University College of Law. Joiner will bedirecting the entire Stetson trial advocacy program, as well as teaching courses in trial advocacy and otheradvocacy-related subject matters in both the J.D. and LLM programs. Stetson’s trial advocacy program hasbeen consistently ranked as best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.SUMMER 2014 31