March 25, 2010

Cooley Law School Client Counseling Team Places 3rd in the U.S.

Cooley Law School students Peter Mularczyk and Todd Johnson advanced to the national final round March 21 and placed third in the country for the American Bar Association’s Client Counseling Competition, held at Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas.

The team advanced to the semi-finals where they defeated Seattle University School of Law and advanced to the final round.

"I am proud to say that our team provided the client with options that would help solve his problem.  The Cooley team approached the problem as lawyers -- rather than in a textbook fashion geared to a competition," commented Cooley Assistant Dean Chris Church, who coached the team.

The University of Illinois College of Law took first place, and second place went to the University of the District of Columbia - Clarke School of Law. In their comments, the judges disclosed that the three teams were exceptionally close and that their decision was extremely difficult.

The Client Counseling competition included 136 law schools this year. The Cooley team defeated nine of the regional champions, including Pace University School of Law, Drake University Law School, University of California-Davis School of Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, University of Richmond School of Law, Atlanta's John Marshall Law School, Franklin Pierce Law Center, and Seattle University School of Law.

Cooley Professor Pat Mock helped to coach the team, professors Alan Gershel and Pat Corbett helped the team understand how to counsel in the area of white collar crime, and Prof. Gina Torielli provided insights into tax representation.

Cooley Law School students Peter Mularczyk (left) and Todd Johnson places 3rd in the United States in the American Bar Association's Client Counseling Competition.

High-Res 300dpi Image © Thomas M. Cooley Law School 2010

Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the nation. Founded in 1972, the private, non-profit law school operates J.D. programs across Michigan in Lansing, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor.Today, Cooley Law School has nearly 14,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs. Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September.