Trial Team Advances to National Competition

An Arizona Law Trial Team took down the top-ranked competitor in a regional tournament to advance to the National Trial Competition, where they'll face the top 28 teams in the country.

Students Matthew Ashton (1L), Jackie Kafka (3L), Elizabeth Smiley (2L), and Doug Flanagan (3L) won five trials in the qualifying competition, including a final against the University of Denver, who was the top-ranked team entering the final round. Now they head to Dallas, Texas March 30-April 3 for the national round. This is the second year in a row that an Arizona Law Trial Team has advanced to the national competition.

Arizona's other trial team of Jean Paul Barnard (1L), Jonathan Leitenberger (2L), Erika Johnsen (2L), and Sara Levin (2L) advanced to the third round of the regional tournament, where they were narrowly defeated by last year's national fourth-place finisher, Brigham Young University. Barnard was named a top-three attorney in the region (out of the more than 50 competitors), becoming the first 1L to win a top attorney award. 

"These eight students have spent countless hours working to achieve this amazing accomplishment," said Brian Chase, who coached the teams along with fellow part-time professor of practice Joel Feinman. "Their hard work is evident when you spend just a few minutes watching them artfully navigate the courtroom. The winning term has earned themselves a spot among the nation’s top 10 percent of law school trial advocates—no small feat."