Jenckes Cup Remains in Tucson as Arizona Law Wins 7th Straight Trial Competition

It was a big week for in-state rivalries at the University of Arizona.

University of Arizona Law beat Arizona State University in the 2016 Jenckes Closing Arguments Competition Friday, Nov. 18. This marked the 7th year in a row that the Wildcats came out on top. Arizona Law leads the annual series 30-17. (The win came a week before the UA football team captured the Territorial Cup by beating ASU in the final football game of the season.)

Matthew Ashton (right), who was also on last year's winning team, and Elizabeth Smiley brought home the win for Arizona Law, serving as the defense team in a case about the killing of a mountain lion at a state park.

Two weeks before the competition, each team received a transcript of the actual trial that went to court, minus the closing arguments. The students then craft their own closings and argue against each other before a judging panel of up to 40 trial attorneys who are members of the Arizona chapter of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honorary society whose membership is limited to 1 percent of the practicing bar. The judges are not told which school competitors attend.

Ashton and Smiley trained for the competition with coach, Professor Tom Mauet and advisors, Professor Barbara Bergman and Professor of Practice Brian Chase (a 2010 Jenckes Cup champion).