IIT Chicago-Kent to send team to Judge Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr., Invitational Trial Competition in New York
The IIT Chicago-Kent team of Jack Bentley, Bernadett Guy and Jennifer Rexroat Lavin will compete in the inaugural Judge Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr., Invitational Trial Competition held November 11 to 13 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The competition, sponsored by Fordham University School of Law, is named for the Honorable Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr., a 1967 Fordham Law alumnus who currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. According to a 2004 article in the California Law Review, Judge Kelly, who has been on the bench since 1992, is one of the most-cited judges in the federal judiciary.
The competition will feature two preliminary rounds in which teams of two lawyers will try the case on each side. Successful teams will advance through quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. Awards for the Best Opening Statement, Direct Examination, Cross Examination, and Summation through the preliminary rounds, and Best Prosecution Advocate and Best Defense Advocate through the semifinal rounds, will be announced November 12. The overall winner and the recipient of the award for Best Advocate in the final round will be announced November 13 following the championship round.
Third-year student Jack Bentley earned his undergraduate degree in political science from Illinois Wesleyan University. Teammate Bernadett Guy is a second-year student who graduated cum laude from Loyola University Chicago with dual degrees in political science and psychology and a minor in international studies. Teammate Jennifer Rexroat Lavin, also a third-year student, attended the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where she majored in government and minored in English. Lavin also earned a doctorate in political science and gender and women's studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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. 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.
