IIT Chicago-Kent to Participate in the Buffalo-Niagara Mock Trial Competition
IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law students Molly Condon '15, Robby Fakhouri '14, Gintare Radvila '14 and Valerie Raedy '14 will represent the law school in the tenth annual Buffalo-Niagara National Mock Trial Competition November 8 to 11. The prestigious invitational tournament, featuring several of the nation's top-ranked trial teams, is hosted by the SUNY Buffalo Law School and will be held at Buffalo City Court.
The students will argue both sides of a hypothetical homicide case, People v. James Lebron King. The defendant, who is charged with second-degree murder of an acquaintance, claims self-defense. The competition consists of eight rounds tried before experienced judges and trial attorneys who volunteer as judges and evaluators. After the preliminary rounds, the top 20 teams advance to the final rounds. Awards will be presented to the winning team and for the best opening, best direct, best cross, best closing argument and best advocate.
Team member Molly Condon completed her undergraduate education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in political science and a minor in philosophy. Teammate Robby Fakhouri graduated magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago with a major in biology and a minor in anthropology. Teammate Gintare Radvila graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a major in English and a minor in secondary education. Valerie Raedy graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in government and music from Lawrence University and Conservatory in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The team will be coached by IIT Chicago-Kent alumni Michelle Truesdale '04, Katya Manak '10, Rachael Sinnen '11, Karolina Zielinska '11, Erik Wilson '12 and Amanda Bielinski '13, and adjunct professor Lance Northcutt. (Sinnen and Zielinska were members of the IIT Chicago-Kent team that finished second in the 2010 tournament. Zielinska was also a member of the 2009 quarterfinalist team.)
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 IIT 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.
