The St. Mary’s University School of Law Black Law Students Association mock trial team of Christian Johnson, Brian Cromeens, Lauren Cadillac and Heather Marcus finished second at the national championship of the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition.

The 18 top teams from regions across the country met in Houston for the national competition this month. St. Mary’s team topped Georgetown University Law and Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center before meeting the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in the final round.

“We advanced to the finals as the top-seed, but Memphis was the better team on Saturday,” said Daryl Harris, St. Mary’s School of Law Adjunct Professor and mock trial coach. “The team is grateful to the School of Law for its support and the opportunity to pursue excellence in advocacy skills.”

Harris went on to say that Cromeens, who won Best Oral Advocate in the regional competition held earlier this month in San Antonio, had an outstanding competition particularly in the defeat of Georgetown and both Cadillac and Marcus were consistently strong. This was Johnson’s third appearance in a national-level competition and his second appearance in the final round.

This was also the third consecutive year, a St. Mary’s University School of Law advocacy team has advanced to the national competition of this tournament.

Back to top