USD Law Trial Teams Compete Across Country
“Trial team is the most real-world simulated learning experience a student can have outside a clinic,” said Laura Rose, assistant professor at the USD School of Law and trial team coach. “Our goal is to prepare our students to be able to walk into any courtroom in the country and be successful.”
In the spring semester, 27 USD law students attended trial competitions all over the United States. In February, students attended the Texas Young Lawyers’ National Trial Competition where the team of Justin Reininger, Tucker Volesky, and Brandon Booth reached the top four of the tournament and missed qualifying to the national tournament by only two points.
In March, the team of Meaghan Janousek, Clay Crozier, Aidan Goetzinger and Whitney Denning reached the semi-final round of the American Association for Justice’s Student Trial Advocacy Regional Competition in Denver, Colorado.
“Competing on the trial team gives our students a head start,” said Rose. “In a very compressed timeline–usually just six weeks–students learn and argue difficult and complex cases that would generally take months or even years of preparation in real practice.”
The USD School of Law educates most of the state’s lawyers and judges, filling spots in private law firms and in public legal practice. Along with being a best value school, USD Law is routinely ranked highly in state and local clerkship placements.
