At the 2012 National Trial Advocacy Competition held Oct. 25-28 at Michigan State University College of Law, Emory Law’s Mock Trial Society team advanced farther than any Emory team has thus far, to quarter-finals, said Rachel Belcher 13L, the society’s director of competitions. Also, Louis Laverone 13L received the Best Overall Advocate award for the competition.

“Louis' performance did more than impress the judges,” Belcher said. “It left them with nothing to critique.”

The team of Laverone, Belcher, Greg Bitner 13L and Martin Bunt 14L competed against Cooley Law School in the quarter-finals; Cooley went on to place second overall. The team is shown below with their coaches DeKalb County Assistant Public Defender James Thomas 12L, left, and Tony Thomas, legal counsel for Georgia Gwinnett College, right. Team members shown left to right are Rachel Belcher, Louis Laverone, Greg Bitner, Martin Bunt.

At the 2012 Peter James Johnson '49 National Civil Rights Trial Competition sponsored by St. John’s University School of Law (Queens, N.Y) Oct. 25-28, the Emory Law team of Brett Land 14L, Trevor Newberry 13L, Nnenna Opara 14L, and Matthew Stumpf 14L also advanced to the quarter-final round.

“Going into the quarter-final round, the team had a perfect record, ranking fourth among the advancing teams,” Belcher said. “The team faced incredible competitors and had very close rounds.”

The civil rights team are: top left, Matthew Stumpf; top right: Brett Land; bottom left, Trevor Newberry; bottom right: Nnenna Opara. They were coached by Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Gardner.