LSU Law Center’s National Pretrial Competition Team: Matthew Hamilton, Doran Drummond, Danielle Borel and Sikandar Mehr
The LSU Law Center’s National Pretrial Competition team recently took First Place at the National Pretrial Competition, one of the most intensive law school advocacy competition experiences in the United States. The competition was held October 10-13, 2013, at Stetson University College of Law. The LSU Law team of Danielle Borel, Doran Drummond, Matthew Hamilton, and Sikandar Mehr was one of 16 law schools from around the country that competed for a chance to win the competition. Ms. Borel and Mr. Mehr also each won an award for Best Oralist. The Pretrial team is coached by alumna LaToya Jordan (’10) and Professor Jeff Brooks.
“LSU’s success at the National Pretrial Competition demonstrates how an LSU Law education prepares graduates to be ready to practice,” said Professor Jeff Brooks, Preis & Roy Director of Advocacy and Professional Practice. “The Pretrial Competition closely simulates a day in the life of an attorney practicing in federal court. It calls for high levels of critical thinking and knowledge of the law from students, requires them to think and react in a high-pressure courtroom setting, and makes them demonstrate competence in a number of different litigation skills.”
The Law Center Advocacy Programs are among the largest advocacy competition programs in the United States. Law Center teams compete at 27 different moot court (appellate advocacy), trial advocacy, and alternative dispute resolution competitions across the United States. These competitions provide students with some of the most intensive and rigorous skills development available to law students. Working under the direct supervision of faculty and practitioner coaches, each team spends weeks preparing for its individual competition. The Advocacy Programs also sponsor a series of workshops and boot camps for student competitors, providing them with additional training and development.
