October 13, 2011
St. Mary’s University School of Law hosted the 2011 Lone Star Classic®, an annual national invitational mock trial tournament, October 13 -15.
This year, sixteen law schools from across the nation participated in St. Mary’s tournament: Baylor University Law School; Brooklyn Law School; University at Buffalo Law School; Chicago-Kent College of Law; Faulkner University’s Jones School of Law; Florida State University College of Law; Fordham University School of Law; Georgia State University School of Law; University of Houston Law Center; University of Maryland School of Law; Michigan State University College of Law; South Texas College of Law; Stetson University College of Law; St. John’s University School of Law; University of Texas School of Law and Villanova University School of Law.
Fordham University School of Law was the champion over finalist Faulkner University’s Jones School of Law.
The preliminary rounds were held at the Bexar County Courthouse with the webcast final round at St. Mary’s high-tech courtroom.
“The Lone Star Classic® competition is a wonderful opportunity to showcase San Antonio’s courts and legal community,” said David Schlueter, Hardy Professor of Law and St. Mary’s director of Advocacy Programs. “It is a great chance for students to personally observe excellent advocates from other schools and puts a spotlight on our strong reputation for advocacy.”
St. Mary’s Board of Advocates plan and run the competition with the support of the local bench and bar who free up their courtrooms for use and more than 90 attorneys and judges volunteer to judge the rounds.
Final round judges were The Hon. Edward Prado, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; John E. Murphy, First Assistant United States Attorney; and Henry J. Bemporad, Federal Public Defender.