Florida State University College of Law Hosts National Mock Trial Competition

Press Date
March 1, 2013
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Wayne and Pat Hogan Professor of Trial Practice
Ruth Stone

The Florida State University College of Law hosted its first invitational national mock trial competition on March 7-9, 2013. The competition was held in the law school’s Advocacy Center, which houses five courtrooms. Participants tried a fictional personal injury and concealed weapons case.

The competition was organized to thank law schools who have hosted Florida State’s Mock Trial Team at competitions. The first-place winning team was from Brooklyn Law School and The John Marshall Law School (Chicago) placed second. Other law schools competing included: Catholic University's Columbus School of Law (Washington, D.C.), Charleston School of Law, Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Lansing, Michigan), Faulkner University School of Law (Montgomery, Alabama), Fordham University School of Law (New York City), Georgia State University College of Law (Atlanta), St. Mary's University School of Law (San Antonio, Texas) and SUNY Buffalo Law School. Because Florida State hosted the event, its award-winning Mock Trial Team did not compete.

Judges who served as judges or jurors for competition rounds included: the Honorable Ronald Flury (’93) (Second Judicial Circuit of Florida), the Honorable Robert Hinkle (United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida), the Honorable Barbara Hobbs (’81) (Second Judicial Circuit of Florida), the Honorable John J. Lazzara (Florida Office of the Judges of Compensations Claims), the Honorable Terry P. Lewis (’76) (Second Judicial Circuit of Florida), the Honorable R. Bruce McKibben, Jr. (’84) (Florida Division of Administrative Hearings), and the Honorable Suzanne Van Wyk (’94) (Florida Division of Administrative Hearings).

“We were very excited to welcome a number of impressive Mock Trial teams to our campus for this competition,” said Ruth Stone, the Wayne and Pat Hogan Professor of Trial Practice. “Our Advocacy Center is one of the nation’s finest facilities for trial and appellate advocacy training and we were eager to let other students put it to good use.”