UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Three Penn State Law students headed west from Feb. 17-19 to compete in the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County Mock Trial Competition and brought home a second-place finish for the defendant’s side. Students Anthony Christina, Derek Markle and Joseph Taylor competed against 11 other law schools for the title at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.The Penn State Law team represented a defendant in a personal injury trip-and-fall case, and after deliberation, the jury found that the defendant was not liable for the plaintiff’s accident. The scoring of the competition was by a panel of judges, including Chief United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti, as the competition was held in her courtroom. William & Mary’s team nabbed the first-place title for the plaintiff’s side, while Georgetown Law defeated the Penn State Law group for first place on the defendant’s side.
The two team leaders, Markle and Taylor, had good things to say of the experience.
“Conducting a trial in front of a federal judge, in her actual courtroom, is a terrific opportunity for any student pursuing a career in litigation," said Taylor. “Through digesting a full case file, preparing our case, and finally proceeding to trial, I truly felt like a practicing attorney.”
“I found this to be a tremendous learning opportunity,” Markle said. “Our case file included hundreds of pages of deposition testimony, interrogatories and court pleadings, from which we formulated a winning strategy … and we had fun with the entire process.”
The Academy of Trial Lawyers began in 1959 as an organization to promote the highest standards of integrity, civility and competence in the legal profession. Currently there are 375 members including honorary members, emeritus members and active members, which are limited to 250 lawyers who are actively engaged in civil trial practice from both the plaintiff's and defendant's side of counsel table in Allegheny County, in both the state and federal courts.
In addition to Penn State Law, Georgetown and William & Mary, the competition included Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Catholic University Columbus School of Law, Duquesne University School of Law School, Howard University School of Law, University of Akron School of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, West Virginia University College of Law, Widener Commonwealth University School of Law, and Widener University School of Law-Delaware.