February 5, 2007

Cooley is one of the top eight teams in the nation

Cooley Law School's moot court team consisting of students Susannah Meyer, Russ Kavalhuna, and Mike Dean, made it into the "Elite Eight" Jan. 31 in the National Moot Court Competition National Final Rounds in New York City.

On the way to their top eight finish, Cooley's team bested teams from the University of Oklahoma, Vanderbilt University, and the University of California-Hastings law schools. The judges in New York, who were always very well prepared to hold the competitors' feet to the fire, uniformly complimented Cooley students' legal arguments, factual arguments, and argument style, noted Evelyn C. Tombers, Cooley Associate Professor and Moot Court coach.

"These students have given the Cooley community many reasons to smile," Tombers said. "And I say
that I'm honored to have been able to coach such talented, motivated people."

Students from 157 law schools across the country competed in 14 regional competitions in November 2006. This Cooley team was a regional finalist, and another Cooley team consisting of Jennifer Dixon, Jennifer Marshall, and Danielle (Sunny) Matz, wrote the best Petitioner’s Brief in the regional competition.

Twenty-eight winning and runner-up teams from those 14 regions across the United States then competed in the final rounds of the National Moot Court Competition in New York City. The American College of Trial Lawyers is a co-sponsor of the competition with the New York City Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Committee.

In another moot court event, Cooley sent two students on to the semi-finals at the State Bar of Michigan’s Law Student Section’s One-L Oral Advocacy Competition at University of Detroit Mercy Law School Jan. 28. Cooley brought a team of eight participants. Students Courtney Smith, Maurice Koffman, and Sean Conaghan made it to the quarterfinals, with two, Smith and Koffman, going to the semifinals.

Founded in 1972, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country. Cooley has three campuses across Michigan; its campus in downtown Lansing, its downtown Grand Rapids campus in west Michigan and its Rochester/Oakland University campus in southeast Michigan. In addition to the Juris Doctor program, students at Cooley can also pursue a Master of Laws degree in taxation or intellectual property.