LSU Law Center’s John L. Costello National Criminal Law Trial Advocacy Competition team of Joshua Wood, Rikki Weger, and Matthew Haltzman took 2nd Place Overall and 1st Place Defense Team at the national rounds of the Costello competition held the weekend of February 9 in Fairfax, Virginia.
Hosted by George Mason University, the Costello Competition is unique among trial advocacy competitions in that each team is only provided one side of the case packet (Prosecution or Defense). The teams must adapt to surprise information presented by the opposing side during the competition rounds. To further provide a challenge, the Costello Competition adds additional new evidence or witness testimony in each successive round in the form of supplemental disclosures, forcing teams to adapt their case strategies and presentation. The team was coached by LSU Law alumnus John-Ed Bishop(’08) of Whitehead Law Firm and was further assisted by shadow team members Colin Doherty, Stuart Bowie, and Whitney Sheppard.
