The Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Center at Fordham Law School hosted 18 law schools from across the United States during its fifth annual Judge Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr. Invitational Trial Competition earlier this month.
Judge Kelly ’67, who sits on the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, presided over the finals in which Brooklyn defeated Georgetown on November 15 inside the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The University of Missouri-Kansas City and Quinnipiac were semifinalists.
The two-day competition featured Fordham Law alumni and students in a variety of roles, from judges and evaluators to witnesses and bailiffs. Greg SanGermano ’02 drafted the trial problem, involving the death of a wealthy, aging Hollywood star. The prosecution claimed that the deceased’s son murdered him by spiking his drink with a lethal amount of oxycodone. The defense argued that the possibilities of suicide or accidental overdose established reasonable doubt.
“It was a really great learning experience for our students to be witnesses undergoing direct and cross examination and to see top-notch schools compete,” said Adam Shlahet ’02, Director of Trial Advocacy Competitions for the Brendan Moore Trial Advocates.
“It was a big spotlight, and I think we did well,” added Competition Editor Courtney Kane ’16, who served in that capacity with Sheila Shen ’16. “We’re very happy with the outcome. It was a good way to end the fall semester of our trial ad program.”
The competition has emerged as one of the country’s finest, with more schools expressing interest in competing each year, Shlahet noted. This is in part due to strong student participation. Sixty-six students, featuring Brendan Moore Advocates and a small number of 1Ls, served as witnesses and bailiffs.
“It’s a testament to how strong our Law School is that we could have so many students come in on a Saturday morning to serve as witnesses and bailiffs,” Shlahet added.
Judge Kelly’s involvement also added to the event’s prestige. Trying a case before a federal judge with his experience “would be an honor for a practicing attorney let alone a law student,” Shlahet said.
Shlahet and Kane also credited the participation of Fordham Law Professor and Brendan Moore Chair in Advocacy James L. Kainen, Adjunct Professors Kenneth Montgomery ’97 and Joseph Cordaro ’03 as semifinal judges, Katherine Parker ’92 of Proskauer Rose, Harriet Newman Cohen of Cohen Rabin Stein Schumann and John Uretsky ’99 as final round evaluators, and Brendan Moore’s 11 board members.
–Ray Legendre