October 6, 2008
On Oct. 9-11, St. Mary’s University School of Law hosted the 2008 Lone Star Classic, an annual invitational mock trial tournament open to ABA-accredited law schools nationwide.
This year, the field consisted of 16 teams from the following schools: American University Washington College of Law; Baylor University Law School; Brooklyn Law School; Cumberland School of Law; Emory University School of Law; Florida State University College of Law; University of Houston Law Center; Louisiana State University Law Center; Michigan State University College of Law; Pace University Law School; Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law; South Texas College of Law; Texas Wesleyan University School of Law; Tulane University School of Law; Villanova University School of Law; and Washington University School of Law. The Villanova team won first place.
“Many of the schools that participated are considered top-ranked schools for their advocacy programs and are perennially successful at national competitions,” said Dave Schlueter, St. Mary’s law professor and tournament director. “We are proud to showcase San Antonio and St. Mary’s University School of Law by hosting this competition.”
The mock trial problem was a murder case in the hypothetical State of Lone Star. The preliminary rounds for the Lone Star Classic were held at the Bexar County Courthouse. The semi-final and final rounds were held at St. Mary’s University School of Law’s courtroom.
The law school’s Board of Advocates assisted with many of the logistical challenges of hosting a national event, such as finding 90 lawyers to judge the preliminary and semi-final rounds in the competition and 50 students to serve as either bailiffs or marshals for each round. The San Antonio Young Lawyers’ Association assisted in providing a registration Website for potential judges.
The final round judges were Judge Xavier Rodriquez, Federal Public Defender Henry Bemporad and Richard Durbin of the United States Attorney’s Office.
“This was a wonderful opportunity for the legal community and law students to personally observe excellent advocates from other schools,” said Schlueter.