IIT Chicago-Kent Names Its 2013 National Pretrial Competition team
Laura Henneman '15, Rob Kohen '14, Lucas Peters '15 and Judy Shammo '15 will represent IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law in the sixth annual National Pretrial Competition October 10 through 13 at Stetson University College of Law's Gulfport campus in Florida. The invitational tournament, which is designed to capture the essence of pretrial motion practice, is sponsored by Stetson's Center for Excellence in Advocacy.
Competing law school teams will receive a legal problem containing two issues that require pretrial solutions. The teams will write two briefs—one for the respondent and one for the petitioner. After submitting their briefs, teams will receive supplemental information that may alter or negate the arguments they submitted. During the competition, teams will present oral arguments, examine witnesses, and ultimately attempt to synthesize the law and new facts in a final argument. Awards for the top four teams, the top four oralists and the best team brief will be presented at a banquet at the end of the tournament. (Teams from IIT Chicago-Kent were finalists in the 2009 and 2010 tournaments.)
Team member Laura Henneman, a second-year student, graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a major in journalism and a minor in political science. Teammate Rob Kohen is a third-year student who completed his undergraduate education in sports management with high honors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Teammate Lucas Peters is a second-year student who received a degree in sociology from San Francisco State University. Teammate Judy Shammo, also a second-year student, earned an undergraduate degree in political science with minors in Spanish and sociology from DePaul University.
The IIT Chicago-Kent team will be coached by Joseph Carlasare '12, Lindsay Gephardt '12 and Rachael Sinnen '11.
Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is celebrating "125 years of distinctive legal education." IIT Chicago-Kent is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. IIT Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy teams have won numerous individual student honors and regional and national competitions. U.S. News & World Report this year ranked Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy program among the top five in the country. IIT Chicago-Kent won National Trial Competition championships in 1988, 2007 and 2008.
