Good morning from snowy (not joking!) Minneapolis, the site of the 2012 National Mock Trial Championships.  The students, coaches, and I are happy to inform the denizens of Paladintown that its mock trial team finished in a tie for 5th place in its division with the elite of our activity–UVA, NYU, and UCLA.  Our students also tied for the Spirit of AMTA award with Tennessee and Alabama-Birmingham.  This award is given to the team that best exemplifies the community’s values of professionalism, civility, and fair play.  In short, our students were both effective and ethical.  To be recognized in both categories is rare, and I am so very proud of our students.

In addition, Chris Paglario ’12, Charleston, South Carolina, won an All-American witness award for his portrayal of Officer Ryan Foster, who was the first to respond to the scene of the accident that was at the center of this year’s case.

Our team finished with a record of 5-3, winning and losing against UCLA, losing both ballots to the University of Tennessee, winning both ballots against the University of Illinois-Chicago, and winning both ballots against Eastern Kentucky University.

The team was led by two remarkable members of the class of 2012–Alyssa Richardson, Columbia, South Carolina, and Morgan Bridgman, Atlanta, Georgia.  These women participated in the activity for four years, and it was so heartwarming to see how they developed as advocates and leaders.  They will be deeply missed, but I look forward to watching their careers develop.  Alyssa enters Harvard Law School in the fall, and Morgan is in the process of deciding among several opportunities, including Teach for America.

These women led a gifted group of students, including

Anna McDanal ’12, Hatchechubee, Alabama

Chris Pagliaro ’12, Charleston, South Carolina

Kathleen Wade ’12, Tallahassee, Florida

Katherine Martin ’14, Snellville, Georgia

Ricky Davis ’14, Kennesaw, Georgia

Dustin Magaziner ’15, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Chandler Jackson ’15, Summerville, South Carolina

Mara Hershberger ’15, Martinsville, Pennsylvania

As you can see, we are also saying farewell to three seniors in addition to Captains Bridgman and Richardson.

Anna McDanal is a three-year participant, and she will enter Virginia Law School in the fall.  She led our “B” team throughout the season as a stellar advocate; in Minneapolis, however, she made the transition to be one of our expert witnesses, and she contributed immeasurably to our victories against Illinois-Chicago and UCLA.  If you want to know about discipline, drive, ambition, and leadership, look to Anna McDanal.  How fortunate this program has been to have such a paragon of competence in its leadership.

Kathleen Wade is a four-year veteran of the team.  She is celebrating her birthday today here in Minneapolis.  Kathleen begins her JD/LLM program at Duke Law next month.  A Phi Beta Kappa, Asian Studies/Economics major, Kathleen’s LLM will focus on international law, especially as it relates to China.  Kathleen is as brilliant as she is unassuming; she is constitutionally selfless, and as a result, she has played witness and attorney roles, never seeking the limelight or making demands.  And she is adored by her teammates for her professionalism and rapier wit.  To be this smart and this beloved speaks volume about Ms. Wade.

Chris Pagliaro joined the team has a junior; consistent with his “aw-shucks” kind of attitude, he has played journeyman roles as an attorney and a witness.  For most of this season, he portrayed Officer Ryan Foster on our “B” team.  He shined at the Ney National, and the coaching staff decided that it was time that Mr. Pagliaro step up to the plate to run with the big dogs at the championship.  The coaching staff outfitted him in an awesome police uniform that was so authentic that the staff at the cafe at the courthouse in Minneapolis thought he was an actual police officer and discounted his lunch! And Chris did such a terrific job as Ryan Foster that all of his efforts and dedication to the team earned him All-American honors at this tournament.  Chris will enter South Carolina Law School in the fall, and I look forward to following the career of this genial, smart, and hardworking young man.  We are better for knowing him and for having the privilege of working with him.

And to the future–

To the super sophomores–Katherine Martin and Ricky Davis.  Both Katherine and Ricky are veterans of two national championship runs, and they will be among our leaders as we begin our 2012-2013 campaign.  Their dedication, brilliance, and good judgment will guide us to continued successes.

To the fabulous first-year students–Dustin Magaziner, Chandler Jackson, and Mara Hershberger.  What an amazing group of young people.  They were thrown into the cauldron for most of the invitational season accumulating excellent results, and they were also with us at the end of the season to see what it takes to compete at the highest level.  I not only have appreciated their amazing dedication and extraordinary talents but their charming personalities as well–so different yet so compatible.  The sky is the limit for this trio.

Our super sophomores and fabulous first-years will mean that our program can build on the success of our sensational seniors and create their own legacy for our storied program.

I had a good feeling about this trip when we saw Secretary Dick Riley, Chair of the Furman Board of Trustees, at GSP.  I would chance to say that none of the other teams in the competition had a send off from anyone on their Board of Trustees, let alone the chair!  We appreciate Secretary Riley unintentionally scheduling his trip to coincide with our own.

While in Minneapolis, we ate lunch at Hell’s Kitchen, and there we noted that Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota) was at the next table.  So the political junkies and Saturday Night Live fans on the trip, notably Mr. Pagliaro, my spouse, and yours truly, took special interest in this moment.

The team enjoyed strong support in Minneapolis as Matt and Rebecca Martin, parents of Katherine Martin, came to Minneapolis to see the trials on Friday evening and Saturday morning.  On Saturday afternoon, my spouse’s family, Carroll and Mary Halva from Amana, Iowa; Tyler Halva and Velvet Walker, St. Paul, Minnesota, watched the team compete against Illinois-Chicago.  We love the support that we receive from our families.

Matt Holson ’99, St. Cloud, Minnesota, who is a public defender in Stearns County, recruited a judge for our scrimmage with George Washington University, and then he judged a round on Sunday morning.  Matt was a member of our 1999 National Consolation championship team–the only national championship to date that we’ve won.  It was great to see Matt and catch up with him after several years.  The dedication of our mock trial alums is so greatly appreciated.  And even when we travel to far-flung jurisdictions like Minnesota, we find Paladins to offer us their helping hands.

And speaking of recent successes of our alums–Emily Westberry ’11, made it to the finals of the UGA Law School moot court competition.  Ms. Westberry was one of our team captains and first-rate advocates during her time at Furman. Congratulations, Emily!

A final tip of the hat to our coaching staff–D. Brad Rustin ’03, Steven Buckiingham ’03, Lindsay Builder ’07, Mark Fessler ’05, Mitchell Goldsmith ’06, Brent Tucker, Angie Littlejohn, University Legal Advisor, and Thomas Azar.  They are absolutely stellar, and their dedication to purpose has showed not only in the success of the teams but also in their effective mentoring of young people.

We could not be successful without the wonderful support of all the people on this list, who have supported us financially, who have judged at tournaments, and who have sent their well wishes.  I want to especially recognize my political science colleagues, particularly Danielle Vinson, department chair, and the University administration, notably President Smolla and Dean Beckford, for backing our program.  Sadly, the support the students, coaches, and I receive at Furman is a rarity at most institutions.

I am a blessed person . . . signing off for the 2011-2012 season.  I’ll be back with updates in October.

Ciao,

Glen

I am pleased to report that the Paladin mock trial team competing at the Kennesaw State (Kennesaw, GA) regional tournament this weekend earned Furman a second bid to the Ney National Tournament (to go with the one it earned in Orlando last weekend), which will be held on the Furman campus, March 23-25. I am delighted that Furman’s tradition of excellence in mock trial was again on display this weekend in North Georgia. As a result, our mock trial program has established itself as one of the elite programs in the nation that has earned TWO bids to the post-season.

Our Kennesaw team finished with 5 wins and 3 losses, winning both ballots against Spelman and Georgia State, losing both ballots to South Carolina, and winning and losing against Central Florida. Our strength of schedule was among the most difficult at the tournament; South Carolina’s team, composed of several fifth-year seniors, was undefeated.

Anna McDanal ’12, Hatchechubee, AL, and Emily Bridges ’12, Greenville, SC, are the team’s captains, and they lead:

Kathleen Wade ’12, Tallahassee, FL

 Emily Jeske ’14, Clemmons, NC

 Daniel Causey ’14, Darlington, SC

 Natalia Arenas ’15, Greenville, SC

 Ben Durfee ’15, Wells, ME

While I have previously written about Ms. Bridges’ many law school acceptances, such also is the case for Ms. McDanal, whose long list of suitors includes the University of Virginia. None of us are surprised by Anna’s successes–she’s a terrific student and top-notch leader, and we know that she always rises to the occasion. We wish her well in her post-Furman career.

The team’s third senior, Kathleen Wade, was named an outstanding defense attorney for her incomparable work in representing Danny Dawson, the defendant in this year’s case. Congratulations, Kathleen.

Let me also give a shout-out to the underclassmen on this team–none of them brought high school mock trial experience to the team, so I was proud of their ability to step-it-up this weekend when our season was on the line.

Our program is coached by D. Brad Rustin ’03, Steven Buckingham ’03, Mark Fessler ’05, Lindsay Builder ’07, Mitchell Goldsmith ’06, Dawn Williams ’05, Brent Tucker, Angie LIttlejohn (University Legal Advisor), and Thomas Azar.

Thanks to all of you on this list for your continued support of the Furman mock trial program. We will work very hard over the next month to represent Furman well at the Ney National. The students, coaching staff, and I are defnitely committed to winning a bid to the national championship finals in Minneapolis.

Happy Sunday.

 Ciao,

 Glen

At those tournaments, however, we had some very strong individual performances: Catie Donnelly ’13, Charleston, SC won an oustanding attorney and an outstanding witness award at the South Beach Tournament in Miami, Florida. Catie backed that performance a week later with an outstanding attorney award at the Chapel Hill Regional Tournament. Katherine Martin ’14, Snellville, GA, earned an outstanding attorney award with a perfect score at the Ramblin’ Wreck Tournament, Atlanta, GA. While these performances are strong on their face, they are made more remarkable by the fact that Catie and Katherine were on study away programs to Japan and England, respectively, during the fall semester. Most of the students have been working on this year’s case problem since mid-August; Donnelly and Martin had the case since mid-January.

This weekend in Orlando, however, our team fortunes were reversed. We finished with a record of 6-2 at the Orlando Regional Tournament, hosted by the University of Central Florida, to earn 5th place. And that 5th place finish earned the Paladins a bid to the Ney National Tournament, hosted by Furman, on March 23-25. Teams advance from the 24 regional competition sites in February to the eight opening rounds of the national tournament championship sites in March; the Southeastern site is the Ney Tournament at Furman. And from these eight sites, 48 teams advance to the 2012 National Championship, which will be held in Minneapolis in mid-April.

In Orlando, our team lost both ballots to Princeton, and then they won all remaining ballots against Central Florida, Florida State, and North Florida.

Our Orlando team was led by Mattson Smith ’13, Tega Cay, SC, and Maddison Hall ’14, Fort Mill, SC. Mattson and Maddison were mock trial teammates at Fort Mill High School, a perennial power on the high school mock trial circuit.

Mattson and Maddison were joined by:

Katherine Martin ’14, Snellville, GA

Andrew Mueller ’14, Tinley Park, IL

Justin Rourk ’14, Sharpsburg, GA

Monica Zwolinski ’15, Tall Timbers, MD

Nicholas Lau Hao Keat, ’15, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Ms. Martin earned an outstanding attorney award, and Ms. Zwolinski won an outstanding witness award.

Considering this team has two first-year students, neither of who brought high school mock trial experience to the team, and the rest of the team did not participate during fall semester because they were on study away programs or completing internships, this is an amazing result.

I commend the coaches and the entire program for assisting this team in preparing for the Orlando Tournament and for bringing a post-season bid to Furman. It was truly a program effort.

Our program is coached by D. Brad Rustin ’03, Steven Buckingham ’03, Mark Fessler ’05, Lindsay Builder ’07, Mitchell Goldsmith ’06, Dawn Williams ’05, Brent Tucker, Angie LIttlejohn, and Thomas Azar.

We have one more regional tournament appearance–next coming weekend in Kennesaw, Georgia. I look forward to bringing more good news to the Paladin Nation from that tournament–in other words, a second bid to the Ney National.

Thanks to everyone for your support. It is deeply appreciated.

Ciao,

Glen

 I am sitting at LaGuardia waiting for a flight to Charlotte with the mock trial team. This weekend the Paladin’s opened their spring semester with the Downtown Invitational Tournament, hosted by New York University, in the Kings County Criminal Court in Brooklyn. The Downtown is the premier invitational of the season, and Furman was one of sixteen teams that secured an invitation. The field included six former national champions and many of the top-ranked programs in the nation.

The tournament was brutal: The top team, defending national champion UCLA, won 14 out of 20 ballots–for a 70% win rate. There were five judges in each of the four trials. Furman’s record was 8.75–we narrowly missed earning a trophy. Of our twenty ballots, we had five ballots that were decided by a point, and we lost four of those! Argh–he agony of mock trial. We won two ballots and lost three against the 2009 national champions from Northwood University (Midland, MI), lost all five ballots to the University of Washington, won 3.75 ballots and lost 1.25 against Penn, and won three ballots and lost two against Columbia. It looks like we need to try more cases against our friends from the Ivy League!

We were joined in Brooklyn by Dan and Mary Hershberger, the parents of Mara Hershberger ’15, and Maria Rita Anache, an exchange student from Brazil who is staying with the Hershbergers during the 11-12 school year; Laura, Doug, Campbell, Ned, and Dougie DeNatale, the aunt, uncle, and cousins of Ricky Davis ’14; and Lisa and Gary Dvorkin, the mother and step-father of Dustin Magaziner ’15. We love having the families of our students join us at tournaments, since mock trial is truly a family affair.

Our Downtown entry was led by Morgan Bridgman ’12, Atlanta, GA, and Alyssa Richardson ’12, Columbia, SC.

Bridgman and Richardson led the following outstanding young people:

Kathleen Wade ’12, Tallahassee, FL

Ricky Davis ’14, Kennesaw, GA

Mara Hershberger ’15, Martinsburg, PA

Chandler Jackson ’15, Summerville, SC

Dustin Magaziner ’15, Cherry Hill, NJ

Note that there are three first-year students on this team.

We are delighted to welcome back Ms. Bridgman, a 2011 All-American attorney, who was on a study away trip to Europe during fall semester.

Captain Richardson won two individual awards: She was named one of the tournament’s outstanding attorneys, and she also earned an award for her performance as Dr. Avery Smith, who holds a doctorate in biostatistics and testifies for the State as an expert in the operation of the intoxilyzer, which measures the amount of alcohol in a person’s breath. This year’s criminal case centers on murder and DUI charges made against the defendant, Danny Dawson, by the State of Midlands.

We continue to celebrate with Alyssa who now has law school admittances to Duke, Harvard, Michigan, Emory, Georgetown, George Washington, UCLA, and Chicago.

While Wes Carson has left our coaching staff for his new position at Hogan Loevells in Washington, DC, we have added Angela Littlejohn, Furman’s Legal Advisor, and Dawn Williams ’05, to our coaching staff. Our continuing coaching staff members are D. Brad Rustin ’03, Steven Buckingham ’03, Lindsay Builder ’07, Mark Fessler ’05, M. Mitchell Goldsmith ’06, Thomas Azar, and Brent Tucker.

I am happy to report that as of January 3 Coach Builder is an associate at the Wilkes Law Firm in Spartanburg, one of the gold-level sponsors of the Ney National Tournament. Congratulations, Coach Builder!

2012 is off to a positive start. Next weekend, we have two teams in competition, one at the Ramblin’ Wreck Invitational, hosted by Georgia Tech, in Atlanta, and the South Beach Invitational, hosted by the University of Miami, in Coral Gables, FL.

Ciao,

Glen

While most Paladins made the trek to the Sunshine State last weekend to cheer on our boys in purple in white, the three mock trial teams represented the University at two different tournaments. Our “B” team competed at the Tobacco Road Invitational hosted by Duke University in Durham, NC, and our “A” and “C” teams competed at the Beach Party Invitational hosted by the University of California, Irvine, in Irvine, CA.

#2 in Durham

Our awesome Tobacco Road contingent took 2nd place with a record of 6-1-1 in a 26-team field that was national in scope. Furman was the only liberal arts college represented in the field. But our David was not about to step away from the Goliaths of UC-Berkeley, the University of Michigan, Columbia University or the many other national universities and Research One’s that were represented at this top-notch tournament. The team won both ballots from Miami University, split with Washington and Lee, won and tied against Central Florida, and won both ballots from Columbia University. The Paladins played the toughest schedule of any team at the tournament–W&L team won the tournament (it’s sole loss coming to Furman), and the Columbia team that we defeated took 4th place. Going into the final round, Columbia was undefeated and in the driver’s seat to win the tournament, but Furman’s two-ballot win catapulted our team to second and resulted in a 4th-place finish for Columbia.

The Tobacco Road team is led by Emily Bridges ’12, Greenville, SC and Anna McDanal ’12, Hatchechubee, AL. Emily and Anna are joined by:

Sean Butler ’15, Orange, CT

Chris Pagliaro ’12, Charleston, SC

Natalia Arenas ’15, Greenville, SC

Kiersty DeGroote ’14, Lyman, SC

Daniel Causey ’14, Darlington, SC

Kathleen Wade, ’12, Tallahassee, FL

Emily Jeske ’14, Clemmons, NC

Ben Durfee ’15, Wells, ME

Emily Jeske won an outstanding witness award, and Kathleen Wade earned top honors as an attorney. Congratulations to both of these women for their outstanding work. Both Emily and Kathleen are use to winning individual awards, but these are the first of the 11-12 season for both.

Of course, we are always happy to see our supporters in attendance at the tournament, and last weekend Page Bridges ’08 (soon to be Dr. Page Bridges, MD), sister of Emily Bridges, was in attendance. Page has attended so many mock trial tournaments over the years that I suspect no Chapel Hill medical student is more knowledgeable about trial advocacy than Ms. Bridges. Emily Jeske’s parents from Clemmons, NC, also were in attendance for Sunday morning trials, and the team very much appreciated their continuing support.

Honorable Mention at Beach Party

The Beach Party Invitational at UC-Irvine is a unique event in the mock trial community. This tournament attracted the best field of the fall invitational season, and all of the programs in the field regularly qualify for the national championship finals. An invitation is a sign of one’s stature in the mock trial community. Again, Furman was the only liberal arts college in the field. Designed to determine which school has the best program, the Beach Party organizers require each school to bring two teams, and the winners are determined not from the record of a single team but on those of both entries. Sixteen schools (32 teams) sent teams to UCI this weekend.

Furman finished with a record of 8-7-1 (16-0 was a perfect record, which no team achieved), and we received a honorable mention for our effort. We tried our cases against Brown, Northwestern, Washington, and Virginia–a quartet of prestigious national universities and top-flight public Ivys. Our “A” team won its ballots against Brown, Washington, and Virginia and won and tied against Northwestern. It’s record of 7-0-1 was the second best single-team record in the tournament, eclipsed only by UC-Irvine’s “A” team. UC-Irvine won the tournament. Our “C” team lost all of its ballots against Brown, Northwestern, Virginia, but it won and lost against Washington. Our “C” team knew that it was going to a tough tournament for them this weekend, since most on the team are new to mock trial, and the team’s only other competition this fall was at the Sanders Invitational in Lexington, KY, late last month.

Our trial against the University of Virginia was especially memorable. UVA is not only one of the best programs in the nation, it also is one of our nemeses. UVA-Furman trials are always hard-fought affairs, and the Paladins have a great deal of respect for their mock trial counterparts in Charlottesville. In recent years, UVA has gotten the best of us, but on Sunday afternoon, our students were prepared for the Cavaliers. Our “C” team had to face the mighty UVA “A” team, while our “A” team faced the UVA “B” team. While our “C” team lost, it kept the margins relatively close (-7, -11), especially considering that UVA’s “A” team has one of the most decorated attorneys in the nation and a team that brings significant experience in elite, national-level tournaments. This team won tournaments at Columbia and Washington, D.C. earlier in the season. Our “A” team, however, won both of its ballots, and we did so by a wider margin (+19, +5); hence, our very young teams prevailed over UVA on point differential (+24 to +18). It was a sweet moment in our program’s history.

Our “A” team is led by Alyssa Richardson ’12, Columbia, SC. Ms. Richardson has recently been admitted to Harvard, Georgetown, and Michigan Law Schools, and she found out about her Harvard acceptance while we were in Cali, so we are so proud of Captain “Mama” Richardson. Mama’s kids (emphasizing their youth) are:

Caley DeGroote ’14, Lyman, South Carolina

Ricky Davis ’14, Kennesaw, Georgia

Dustin Magaziner ’15, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Mara Hershberger ’15, Martinsburg, Pennsylvania

Chandler Jackson ’15, Summerville, South Carolina

Judy Gantzer ’15, Mumbai, India

Evan Wahl ’13, Atlanta, Georgia

Dustin Magaziner, one of our first-year phenoms who was heavily recruited by yours truly earned an outstanding attorney award. I am confident that it is the first of many that he will accrue during his tenure. Dustin won his award despite being referred to as “lumpy” by one of the judges and owning perhaps the most garrish tie collection in the Milky Way.

A shout-outs also goves to Chandler Jackson who nearly won an outstanding attorney award.

Our “C” team is led by Gillian Small ’14, Evans, Georgia, and Jessica Corey ’14, Bentleyville, Ohio. These two young women do a great job of leading their team, which is filled with characters! Those characters include:

Christina Oliva ’15, Ridgewood, New Jersey

Eric Clamage ’15, Lake Forest, Illinois

Monica Zwolinski ’15, Tall Timbers, Maryland

Kevin Hong ’15, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Nicholas Lau ’15, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Ekow Bartels-Kodwo ’13, Accra, Ghana

Samy Dorgham ’14, Indian Land, South Carolina

Steven Sorosky ’14, Glastonbury, Connecticut

A shout-out here goes to Nicholas Lau who nearly won an outstanding witness award–both judges thought he was the best witness in the round with UVA A–amazing, since Nicholas was in his second tournament, and hails from Malaysia, and brings no mock trial or theatre experience to our program. But he clearly impressed the judges with his telegenic charisma.

In California, we were blessed to have Dawn Williams ’05 and Ben Adams ’08 serve as weekend coaches. They coached the teams when they were in Greenville, and it was so good to have their helpful comments this weekend.

Ricky Davis’ family frequently attends our tournaments, and they showed the Davis Family colors again this weekend in Southern California. Additionally, we were able to visit with Ricky’s father in the Atlanta airport on his way home to Kennesaw, GA, from his work in Orlando. We love our parents, grandmothers, and others who come to support our students.

More News from the Mock Trial Front

This past weekend is the end of our fall invitational season, and it also means that Coach Wes Carson is leaving us to begin his new position with Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. Wes recently passed the Virginia Bar, and we so appreciate what he did to assist the students during the fall semester. Wes’ mock trial teammate, Mike Rafi ’08, recently passed the Georgia Bar. Wes and Mike were joined on that amazing 2008 team by Leah Branch, who is now a member of the Maryland Bar. Leah is clerking for a DC Superior Court judges this year. So a toast to Wes, Mike, and Leah and many successes as they enter the legal profession.

Thomas Azar, our acting coach, opens at the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC, in Stones in His Pockets, on Friday, December 2. Stones is a two-man show in which Thomas plays eight roles. It is a comedy. I am confident that it is going to be great. So go get tickets and see the show!

Some final thoughts on the Fall 2011 Invitational Season

I am constantly amazed at the dedication of our stellar coaching staff: D. Brad Rustin ’03, Steven Buckingham ’03, Mark Fessler ’05, Lindsay Builder ’07, Wes Carson ’08, Mitchell Goldsmith ’06, Brent Tucker, and Thomas Azar. We are blessed to have such a first-rate staff on board.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I feel fortunate to work for a University that has embraced a vision for engaged learning that includes mock trial. Pollishing one’s analytical and critical thinking skills in a competitive, team-oriented environment provides these young people with a set of skills and friendships that will last a life time. The purpose of the mock trial program is not merely a training ground for pre-law students, rather it is to give students a host of skills that will make them better students, leaders, and citizens. Our 17-year history provides a wealth of data to make that case.

Thank all of you for your enduring support of these students and coaches. I don’t know of a program in the country that has a better network of supporters.

Enjoy your holidays, and I’ll look forward to reporting to you in the New Year. Our next stop is the Downtown Classic, hosted in Brooklyn, NY, by New York University, the current defending-national runner-up. We also hope to compete in Miami in late January, and we are scheduled to attend the Ramblin’ Wreck tournament in late January at Georgia Tech. Regionals this year are scheduled for Chapel Hill in early February and Kennesaw State in late February.

Ciao,

Glen

The Red Carpet Classic was a small tournament of 18 teams from programs that were among the strongest in the country–teams that regularly appear at the championship finals. The field included nearly all of the programs that captured national championships in the last decade. So we had our work cut out for us, especially since most of the teams in the field had one or two tournaments already under their belts, and this was the debut for our squad.

The Red Carpet featured three-judge scoring panels, and so a perfect record was 12-0, which no squad achieved. While our students battled valiantly against opposing counsel, its record of 3-9 was indicative of the quality of the teams at this tournament and not the Furman squad’s talent or its commitment to doing well. We one ballot and lost two against Arizona State; we one ballot and lost two against Notre Dame; we won ballot and lost two against Hamline; and we lost all three ballots to Washington Universtiy of St. Louis, which finished in 5th place.

The team is led by Emily Bridges ’12, Greenville, SC and Anna McDanal ’12, Hatchechubee, AL. Emily and Anna are joined by:

Sean Butler ’15, Orange, CT

Chris Pagliaro ’12, Charleston, SC

Natalia Arenas ’15, Greenville, SC

Kiersty DeGroote ’14, Lyman, SC

Daniel Causey ’14, Darlington, SC

Kathleen Wade, ’12, Tallahassee, FL

Emily Jeske ’14, Clemmons, NC

Ms. Bridges has already been admitted to Duke Law School and the University of Virginia Law School, where she has received a significant scholarship. Congratulations to Emily on these wonderful achievements.

We have received other good news over the past week. Meredith Dempsey ’10, who is a second-year law student at George Washington Law School led her team to the championship of the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Trial Advocacy Competition in Washington, DC on the weekend of October 21. As a result, Meredith and her partner will represent GW in the national finals in Miami in January. She also has been selected to represent GW at the Texas Young Lawyers Trial Competition. Meredith led her team at Furman for several years, and I am delighted to hear of her continued success in law school.

In other good news, we congratulate former mockers Lawrence Hilton ’06 and Matthew Kuhn ’08 on passing the Bar and being admitted to practice in Illinois and Kentucky respectively.

While in Los Angeles, the team connected with Dawn Williams ’05, who coached the team during the 08-=09 and 09-10 seasons. Dawn has a wonderful sense of humor, and we enjoyed catching up with her in the City of Angels.

The Paladins are idle next week. The following weekend, we end the fall invitational season with a bang as the Bridges-McDanal crew goes to Duke to compete in the Tobacco Road Invitational, and our other teams head west to the Beach Party Invitational at the Universtiy of California-Irvine.

Hat’s off to our coaching staff who manage to work in coaching these young people in between very busy professional lives. They are D. Brad Rustin ’03, Steven Buckingham ’03, Mark Fessler ’05, Lindsay Builder ’07, Mitchell Goldsmith ’06, Wes Carson ’08, Brent Tucker, and Thomas Azar.

Thanks to all of your for your continued support. We are all very blessed to be Paladins where we enjoy the greatest amount of support and respect in all of the mock trial community.

The winning team won the tournament with a record of 7-1 (8-0 is a perfect record). The team defeated Sullivan University, Rhodes A, Rhodes B, and split ballots with Miami University. Rhodes B was the second place team, and Miami was the third place team. In other words, the road to Sanders crown was not an easy one. Moreover, because we played both Rhodes teams on the State side of the case, the Rhodes B team knew our complete case and had Saturday evening to prepare a case against it, and they threw everything but the kitchen sink at our mockers. And, yet, the mighty Paladins prevailed.

Our victorious team is led by Alyssa Richardson ’12, Columbia, South Carolina, and she has guided the following exceptional crew of younger students:

Caley DeGroote ’14, Lyman, South Carolina

Ricky Davis ’14, Kennesaw, Georgia

Dustin Magaziner ’15, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Mara Hershberger ’15, Martinsburg, Pennsylvania

Chandler Jackson ’15, Summerville, South Carolina

Judy Gantzer ’15, Mumbai, India

Matt Janowski ’15, Evansville, Indiana

Captain Richardson won an outstanding attorney award both as a defense and a prosecution attorney–she can both put you in jail or get you out.

And yes, you read the announcement correctly . . . there were five first-year students and two sophomores on the winning team! Ms. Gantzer not only has no mock trial experience, but she is an international student from India–and a dynamite expert witness. We’ve never put three first-year students at counsel table and expected them to carry the program’s water, but that’s exactly what Dustin, Mara, and Chandler are doing. We’ve never asked a senior to be a shepherd to a larger flock of younger students, but Mama Richardson has taken on this new task with her normal energy and drive. Mr. Janowski served as the team’s timekeeper for the weekend, and he did it with panache, and probably could have earned an award for his expertise in that category had there been an unheralded hero award given at the competition. Our sophomores, Caley and Ricky, have brought much leadership and expertise to the team, and they are both gifted witnesses, but they have had to step up along with Captain Richardson to show the ropes to the newbies. I can’t say enough good things about this group’s dedication to purpose as well as their prowess at mock trial. And I like their swagger, too.

On the weekend of October 21, I represented Furman at the Empire Mock Trial Tournament, the premier high school invitational tournament, held in Brooklyn, NY. Furman has been the platnium-level sponsor for this tournament for two years in a row, and we are using the sponsorship to highlight the University’s commitment to its mock trial program and also to recruit high school mock trial students of exceptional promise to the University’s team. As a result of our efforts at the Empire in 2010, we landed Dustin Magaziner and Mara Hershberger for the team–and they are jewels. It is my goal to recruit more students from the Empire to Furman, and our work is well under way for recruiting the Class of 2016.

And two additional shout-outs from the Empire 2011–to Nancy Davis, mother of Mike Rafi ’08, who drove in from New Jersey to help me recruit at the Empire. Nancy is one of those great parents who have added so much to our program over the years, and continues to do so, long after her son has left the University. And to David McGill ’04, who is now an attorney in NYC, who judged two rounds at the Empire. I also had the opportunity to have dinner with David while in the Big Apple.

Our second entry at the Sanders ran into a buzz-saw. It was the first competition for many on the team, and most of the first-year students on this team brought little or no mock trial experience from their high school days. But this team showed great poise, and they learned a great deal this weekend about what it will take to be successful on the MT circuit–at least on the MT circuit in which Furman competes. I am proud that our program creates opportuniites for students who are hardworking and want to improve their public speaking skills. Paladin mock trial will have lost its way if our sole purpose is to win trophies and not to educate young people on reaching their potential.

The team finished the tournament with a 2-6 record, losing both ballots to Ohio State and Loyola-Chicago A, while splitting ballots with Sullivan and Loyola-Chicago B.

The team is led by Jessica Corey ’14, Bentleyville, Ohio, and Gillian Small ’14, Evans, Georgia. The other team members are:

Christina Oliva ’15, Ridgewood, New Jersey

Eric Clamage ’15, Lake Forest, Illinois

Monica Zwolinski ’15, Tall Timbers, Maryland

Kevin Hong ’15, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Nicholas Lau ’15, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Ekow Bartels-Kodwo ’13, Accra, Ghana

Samy Dorgham ’14, Indian Land, South Carolina

I’ve attached a photo of all the students who competed this weekend as well as the coaches who attended the tournament–Lindsay Builder ’07, Wes Carson ’08, ad Thomas Azar.

I want to take my hat off to the coaching staff, which has done a very good job in training our students and being great role models for these young students.

In addition to the aforementioned coaches, the Paladins are coached by D. Brad Rustin ’03, Steven Buckingham ’03, Mark Fessler ’05, M. Mitchell Goldsmith ’06, and Brent Tucker.

The next stop for the Paladins is the Red Carpet Classic, hosted by the reigning national champions, UCLA, next weekend. It will be the debut for our most seasoned team. So I will likely pen my next dispatch from Tinseltown early next week.

Thanks to all of you for your support of Paladin mock trial. We could not achieve our sucesses–chief among them our commitment to engaged learning–without our supporters.