2/24/04—Boston College Law School’s advocacy teams continued to shine in competition, as both the 2004 Mock Trial and the Intellectual Property teams won their regional brackets and advanced to the national level. These teams join the Client Counseling team, which took home the regional crown from their competition last week.

Anna Conrad, Sharon Lahey and Christine Siscaretti defeated a team from the University of Maine to win the Northeast Regional Mock Trial Championship, held last Sunday in Portland, Maine. Lahey and Siscaretti represented the plaintiff in the championship round, with Lahey winning the award for Best Advocate. This year's regional problem was a fictional products-liability suit brought against a casket manufacturer.

“Not only did the team win, but they did so with great style - winning every judge's ballot in every round of the competition,” said Alexis Anderson, Director of Advocacy Programs at BC Law.

The team advances with a group from Suffolk University Law School to represent the northeast region at the 29th annual National Trial Competition. The national competition, sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Texas Young Lawyers Association, takes place March 24-27 in Austin, Texas.

Aaron Sato, Jeremy Valdez and Emily Yu also represented BC Law at the regional competition, and advanced to the semifinal round with wins over Quinnipiac and Yale before losing a close decision to a team from Franklin Pierce Law School. The BC Law teams received comprehensive coaching from adjunct Professors Cathleen Bennett and Paul McManus.

The BC Law Intellectual Property Team of Sheila Bautista, Jong Choe, and Helle Sachse, coached by Professor Joe Liu, won the Regionals of the Lefkowitz Intellectual Property Competition, sponsored by the Brand Names Foundation, held last weekend at NYC in the Federal Courthouse. They ranked first overall, besting Franklin Pierce (which won last year and placed second this year) and American University in third place. They also won the Best Brief Award. The team will go on to DC to compete in the Nationals on March 13.

“It's a real tribute both to our students and to the strength of our IP program,” said Anderson. “While we have only fielded a team in this competition for two years, they have already brought home a victory. Congratulations to Sheila, Jong and Helle!”