Mock Trial Team dominates New York tournament

The Trial Ad Team brought home multiple pieces of hardware.The Trial Advocacy Team of Barristers’ Council has wrapped up its fall competitions with a 1st place victory at Fordham Law School’s inaugural Judge Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr. Invitational Trial Competition.

Students Michael Kawi, 3L, and Amanda Tuminelli, 2L ,went 5-0, defeating teams from Fordham, NYU, Miami, Cardozo and Temple during the Nov. 11-13 competition. Kawi won Best Closing argument for one side of the case while Amanda won Best Advocate in the final round. The team was coached by attorneys Tara Kelly and Marybeth Manfredo.

The team prepared both the prosecution and defense sides of the case. Thus, unlike the format of most tournaments, the team members did not also play witnesses. Instead, the witnesses were actors hired by Fordham.  Kawi said that he and Tuminelli had 15 minutes to prepare the actors before conducting a full trial, including motions, statements, and examinations.

Tuminelli and Kawi after their victory.Kawi also said that the trial packet was “based on a real case in New York City involving a woman who claimed she had been kidnapped, drugged and forced to spend thousands of dollars by the defendant and the defendant’s husband. 

“The defense argued that the woman had a shopping addiction and had made up the story to shift the blame elsewhere.”

Judge Kelly of the 10th Circuit presided over the final round of his namesake competition.

Kawi commented on his experience. “The trial team has helped me meet and learn from experienced attorney-coaches, sent me to some fun cities and given me something to talk about in interviews, but being on a team that brought back three trophies, including the championship trophy, was by far the highlight of being a member of the Trial Division.”

Such victories may encourage more first-year students to compete to join the team during the annual Greenhalgh qualifying competition, which is scheduled to occur in the Spring.

by Edward Mitchell, 3L

Editor-in-Chief

Disclosure: the writer, Edward Mitchell, is also a member of the Trial Advocacy Division.