Joseph Carlasare reaches Top Gun tournament's final four

Joseph P. Carlasare, a 2012 J.D. candidate at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, finished among the top four student advocates in the 2011 National Top Gun Mock Trial Competition held June 2 to 5 at Baylor Law School in Waco, Tex. Carlasare, one of only 18 law students nationwide to compete in this unique tournament, is the first second-year student ever to reach the semifinal round.

Established in 2010, the National Top Gun Mock Trial Competition is organized by Baylor Law School and sponsored by the Texas law firm of Naman, Howell, Smith and Lee PLLC. The invitational tournament pits individual advocates from law schools, with the best record of success in major competitions during the school year, to compete for a $10,000 winner-take-all prize and recognition as the nation's best student advocate.

Competing in the tournament, in addition to Chicago-Kent, were Akron University Law School, Barry University School of Law, University of Denver College of Law, Duquesne University School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Loyola Law School-Los Angeles, Northern Kentucky University College of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, South Texas College of Law, Stetson University College of Law, Suffolk University Law School, Temple University School of Law, University of South Carolina School of Law, University of Wisconsin Law School, Washington University School of Law and Yale Law School.

"Joe was outstanding," said retired Illinois Appellate Court Justice David A. Erickson, director of the law school's trial advocacy program. "We can all be very proud of him. He represented the school and our program with character and grace."

In this unique tournament, students do not receive the details of the case they will argue until 24 hours before the competition begins. In addition to preparing their opening and closing statements and witness examinations, competitors also visit relevant sites of the fictional legal dispute.

"This has been an incredibly hard experience," said Judge Erickson. "Each day of competition has gotten tougher. This has gone from a weak circumstantial case, for both sides, to a battle of the experts."

Joseph Carlasare, a member of the Moot Court Honor Society and Trial Advocacy Team, graduated magna cum laude with a double major in political science and philosophy and a minor in economics from Loyola University Chicago. In 2009, he became the first first-year law student in Chicago-Kent's history to compete both semesters on the trial advocacy team.

Carlasare was a member of the 2009 National Pretrial Advocacy Competition team that advanced to the final round and the 2010 National Ethics Trial team that finished as semifinalists. He was also a member of the IIT Chicago-Kent team that won the National Institute for Trial Advocacy's 2010 Tournament of Champions in October 2010, with Carlasare winning individual honors as the competition's best advocate.

Carlasare won the 19th annual Ilana Diamond Rovner Appellate Advocacy Competition and was a member of Chicago-Kent's regional finalist teams in the ABA National Moot Court Competition and the National Trial Competition earlier this year. He is currently completing a summer internship with the Chicago law firm of SmithAmundsen.

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. 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. Chicago-Kent won National Trial Competition championships in 1988, 2007 and 2008.