TAHP Captures First and Third Places at Regional Competition
At the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Eighth Annual Law Student Trial Advocacy Regional Competition, the Trial Advocacy Honors Program (TAHP) team of Jessica Balady, Andrea Friedman, Elliot Jung and Mathew Rudes took First Place, and the team of Michael Bauer, Dora Clements, Michelle Henderson and Kunal Jain finished in Third Place.
"Winning the competition was great," Jung said. "But, what I am most proud of is the fact that two Southwestern teams placed first and third. In fact, when they announced the four teams that advanced to the semifinals, we learned that Southwestern had ranked first and second out of the preliminary rounds. TAHP is on fire right now."
Thirteen teams from the region, including those from Chapman, Pepperdine, Thomas Jefferson, University of Colorado, University of LaVerne and University of San Diego law schools, met in Los Angeles to argue a case that involved The Family and Medical Leave Act. The winning team defeated teams from the University of La Verne in the Semifinal Round and Pepperdine in the Final Round.
Balady credits team coaches Jennifer Turner '07 and Andrew Pongrazc '08 for their result, "Our coaches are the reason we won," she said. "It was their support and encouragement that gave us the tools we needed to help us advance to the final round."
The ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law hosts eight separate regional competitions. Southwestern's winning team, as well as the first place team from each region, will compete in the national competition at the end of January 2012, in Miami, Florida.
