March 27, 2009
The St. Mary’s Black Law Student Association Mock Trial Team won second place in the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial National Championship in Irvine, Calif.
The competition is hosted yearly by the National Black Law Students Association and was sponsored by the Navy JAG and DLA Piper, an international law firm. The winners of the six regional contests met at the national championship held in conjunction with the group’s 41st Annual National Convention.
St. Mary’s team members were Lysette Rios and Bridgett Clay for the defense and Nicole Hines-Glover and Christian Johnson for the prosecution. They are coached by Daryl Harris and Ken Bell.
To advance to the national finals, the team won the Rocky Mountain Regional Tournament several weeks ago in Colorado. St. Mary’s made it into the national championship round after beating Jones-Faulkner School of Law, St. John’s School of Law, Harvard Law School and the University of Virginia Law School. Virginia and St. Mary’s met again in the finals and Virginia was named the winner by a split panel of judges.