First place winners at the Midwest Regional Undergraduate Diversity Mock Trial Competition at The John Marshall Law School (from left) Jason Beasley of the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, Sylvia Esparza of DePaul University and Kaitlyn Worst of Lewis University, are congratulated by Associate Dean Rory Smith. The competition allows college students to compete in mock trials. The winners each received $7,500 in John Marshall Law School tuition waivers and will compete in the National Undergraduate Diversity Mock Trial Competition in April at the Chicago law school.
The John Marshall Law School awarded $15,000 in tuition waivers to Kaitlyn Worst of Lewis University as a first place team winner and best overall advocate at the Midwest Regional Undergraduate Diversity Mock Trial Competition on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Her first-place teammates, Sylvia Esparza of DePaul University and Jason Beasley of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, each won $7,500 in tuition waivers for their team win, and Esparza won an additional $5,000 in tuition waivers when she was selected second best overall advocate. Students from eight colleges and universities competed in the mock trial competition arguing a case in which the facts prove either murder or self-defense. Although the students at each school spend months learning court techniques and oral argument, they are assigned teams when they arrive for the competition.
The second place winners, Mariel Kirk of Chicago State University, Farzeen Tariqu of Lake Forest College and Ciprian Tucaliuc of Robert Morris University each won $5,000 in tuition
waivers.
Third place winners, Tora Swint of Chicago State University, Lena Hallaj of Lewis University, and Graves Lashondra of Robert Morris University each won $3,500 in tuition waivers. Hallaj also received an additional $3,500 in tuition waivers for being named third best overall advocate.
Two teams won fourth place honors. Team members were Rasheeda Wadley, Joshua Maddox and Jennifer Gehrke of Robert Morris University; Keshia Smith of ITT Technical Institute in
Earth City, Mo.; Larsa Khanice of Roosevelt University; and Shantae Stevenson of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Each will receive $2,500 in tuition waivers. Gehrke also received an additional $2,500 as fourth best overall advocate. These students are eligible to compete in the National Undergraduate Diversity Mock Trial Competition April 8 and 9 in Chicago. “This is the eighth year of the competition, and I am excited to see how it has grown from just a John Marshall competition into a national event with seven regional competitions,”
said John Marshall Law School Associate Dean Rory Smith, director of the Diversity and Outreach Program. “We now have three law schools providing tuition waivers— The John Marshall Law School, Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, and the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University. Each year these competitions get larger, and they create opportunities for students who otherwise may not have the chance to consider law school.”