The competition wasn?t covered live on ESPN or one of the networks, but perhaps it should have been: The University of Maryland captured its first national championship of the new school year last weekend in Florida.
It?s too early for an Orange Bowl win ? and the Terps already have two losses on the gridiron, anyhow. Instead, it was Maryland?s School of Law, based in Baltimore, winning the National Institute for Trial Advocacy?s 17th annual Tournament of Champions, that brought the first hardware of the season home for Terrapin fans. Nearly all of the nation?s 300 law schools participate in the mock trial competitions. Squads compiling the best records during the previous three years make it to “the Sweet 16.”
Third-year law student Sig Libowitz described the victory in tight, come-from-behind sports-infused analogies.
“You have to be able to respond to every wrinkle the defense sends at you,” said Libowitz, who teamed with Jessica Butkera on Maryland?s top prosecution unit.
For example, he described a situation where one opposing defense team questioned whether phone records showing a call made from their defendant?s cell phone actually meant their client had placed the call.
“We had to bring the detective back on the stand ? and make sure it was clear he had gotten the defendant to acknowledge he had made those calls himself,” Libowitz said. “You have to be able to think on your feet.”
For all the fun, balloons and cake at the celebration on the West Baltimore Street campus Wednesday ? no, the judge?s bench wasn?t torn down after the victory ? the qualifying competitions and championships are taken very seriously. The win also means the school will receive an automatic invitation to the championships for the next two years and will host the 2008 court title matches.
“It?s a pretty big deal,” said Rachel Simmons, a third-year law student, who teamed with Jason Downs on Maryland?s defense team and won Top Advocate honors. “Not many Tier I law schools also have the top trial advocacy team.”
Maryland beat out such prestigious law schools as Georgetown, George Washington and Washington Universities.
The school?s two-person prosecutor and defense teams went head-to-head against similar squads from rival institutions in a case based on the facts and testimony from an actual Florida action fictionally referred to as State of Atlantica v. Bruno Bombay. The real defendant in the case was found guilty by a jury in four hours, Simmons said. She noted in the mock court, a ruling of innocent or guilty was not given. But she was sure, she joked, “My client was found innocent every time.”
Libowitz, also an actor with recurring roles on “Law and Order” and “The Sopranos,” said the win “took teamwork, talent, oral skills ? and a gut-check.”
