King Hall Team Triumphs in National Trial Competition
The UC Davis School of Law Trial Practice Team took top honors in the Mockingbird Challenge National Trial Competition held September 28-October 1 at Faulkner University School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama.
The King Hall team of Kareem Aref ’17, Cathryn Dalton ’17, Rudy Orozco Beas ’17, and Kaitlyn Jensen ’17 competed against teams from 20 law schools from around the country, including accomplished trial practice competition teams from Fordham, Florida State, Michigan State, University of Georgia, Temple University, and McGeorge School of Law. Teams were judged by members of the state and federal bench, as well as local attorneys from both criminal and civil practices.
The UC Davis team was victorious in each round of the competition, with both the Defense team of Kaitlyn Jensen and Rudy Orozco Beas and the Prosecution team of Cathryn Dalton and Kareem Aref winning rounds of the finals against Florida State and Fordham, respectively. The UC Davis team was further honored when Cathryn Dalton received the Best Advocate award for competition.
The competition required teams to litigate a criminal case involving burglary and a car theft, made more complicated by the questionable identification of the defendant. Both UC Davis teams demonstrated not only a mastery of the facts, the applicable law and the Federal Rules of Evidence, but also an exceptional courtroom presence and an understanding and application of litigation strategy that distinguished the King Hall litigators throughout the competition. The UC Davis team was proudly coached by Trial Practice Instructor Dennis Cota ’86 and Ron Scholar, a senior litigation partner with Cota Cole LLP.
The UC Davis team and coaches wish to sincerely thank Dean Kevin R. Johnson, Senior Associate Dean Madhavi Sunder, and the King Hall administration for their enthusiastic support of this team and the growing Trial Practice Program at King Hall. Special thanks to Professor Edward Imwinkelried for his ongoing support for the competition teams, and to Rena Contreras for all her work in support of the Trial Practice Program.