IIT Chicago-Kent to participate in National Ethics Trial Competition

Bernadett Guy, Jordan Lebovitz, Tara Korthals and Erin Mayer, second-year students at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, will represent the law school in the seventh annual National Ethics Trial Competition, held March 15 to 17 at the Robert T. Matsui Federal Courthouse in Sacramento, Calif.

The National Ethics Trial Competition was established in 2006 by the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law to promote ethical and civility awareness through the mock trial competition format. According to the organizers, it is "the only law school-sponsored competition that features both an ethical component in the issues to be tried and scoring based on the participants' observation of ethical and civility principles."

IIT Chicago-Kent was one of only 16 law school teams invited to participate in the competition, which tests students' trial advocacy skills in combination with their knowledge of professional conduct and responsibility. A team from IIT Chicago-Kent won the championship and best advocate award in 2008.

This year's team will be coached by IIT Chicago-Kent alumni Nicholas Caputo '01, the Honorable Israel Desierto '90, Nikitas Fudukos '09, Gerise LaSpisa '91, Daniel Martin '84, Rachael Sinnen '11 and Marcie Thorp '92.

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law 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, including the 1988, 2007 and 2008 National Trial Competition championships. In 2008, IIT Chicago-Kent became the first law school to win both the National Trial Competition and the National Moot Court Competition in the same year.