2022 Intramural Competition Program

2022

INTRAMURAL COMPETITION PROGRAM

SOUTHWESTERN’S UNIQUE INTEGRATION OF THREE SIMULTANEOUS 1L INTRAMURAL COMPETITIONS

Welcome to Southwestern’s Intramural Awards Banquet. The three simultaneous intramural competitions for 1Ls are an offshoot of Southwestern’s unique three-track Legal Analysis, Writing, and Skills (LAWS) Program. This innovative program allows students to choose a focus for their first year legal skills course: Appellate Advocacy, Negotiation, or Trial Practice. During the Fall semester, the students learn professionalism, develop broad-based analytical, research, and writing skills, and receive concentrated instruction in the basics of legal methods, legal reasoning and legal processes.

In the Spring semester, the students in all three tracks further hone these skills by researching and writing a Memorandum of Points and Authorities or appellate brief, depending on their track. In addition, the Spring semester introduces students to client interviewing and oral advocacy. As a requirement of the Spring LAWS II course, all students must participate in a mandatory round of oral advocacy corresponding to their LAWS track. In the Appellate Advocacy round, students present oral arguments in an appeal of a hypothetical legal case, in the Negotiation round, students engage in simulated contractual negotiations, and in the Trial Practice round, students examine witnesses and present closing arguments in a mock trial setting. Students in each LAWS track spend a considerable amount of class time practicing for the mandatory round.

The students receiving special recognition are those who excelled in oral advocacy and brief writing in one of the three competitions and are eligible to interview this summer for membership in the Moot Court Honors Program, the Negotiation Honors Program or Trial Advocacy Honors Program.

We are honored to have you all celebrate the accomplishments of this talented group of students.

INTRAMURAL SCHEDULE MOOT COURT 3/26/2022 - 3/27/2022

Round One

3/31/2022

Switchers Round

4/2/2022 - 4/3/2022

Round Two

4/7/2022

Octa-Finals

4/7/2022

Quarter-Finals

4/9/2022

Semi-Finals

4/9/2022

Finals

NEGOTIATION 4/1/2022 - 4/2/2022

Round One

4/3/2022

Quarter-Finals

4/9/2022

Semi-Finals

4/9/2022

Finals

TRIAL ADVOCACY 3/29/2022 - 4/1/2022

Round One

4/4/2022 - 4/7/2022

Round Two

4/8/2022

Quarter-Finals

4/9/2022

Semi-Finals

4/9/2022

Finals

INTRAMURAL COMPETITION AWARDS CEREMONY

PRESENTED AWARDS MOOT COURT First Place Oralist Second Place Oralist

Semi-Final Oralists Quarter-Final Oralists Octa-Final Oralists Notable Oralists

First Place Brief Writer Second Place Brief Writer Third Place Brief Writer Brief Writer Finalists

Semi-Final Advocates Quarter-Final Advocates

Best Brief Writers Brief Writer Finalists

Semi-Final Advocates Quarter-Final Advocates Honorable Mention Advocates

Best Brief Writers Brief Writer Finalists

NEGOTIATION First Place Advocates Second Place Advocates

TAHP First Place Advocate Second Place Advocate

THE MOOT COURT HONORS PROGRAM INTRAMURAL COMPETITION

The Southwestern Law School Moot Court Honors Program sponsors and administers the Moot Court Intramural Competition to give students the opportunity to develop appellate advocacy skills.

This year, Moot Court had 61 participants compete in the competition. This number is a record high number considering the number of applicants in recent years.

The competition begins with competitors submitting their appellate briefs. Afterwards, competitors argue two rounds over the course of two weekends. Competitors are scored on the substantive strength of their arguments, forensics, case knowledge, knowledge of the record, and responsiveness to opposing counsel and the bench. After accounting for brief scores and oral argument scores, those who advance have to argue for longer periods and be prepared to argue both sides of the argument.

The competition culminates in the final round where the finalists argue before a bench of four Supreme Court Judges. All Notable Oralists and above are invited to interview for the 2022-2023 Moot Court Honors Program.

THE MOOT COURT HONORS PROGRAM INTRAMURAL COMPETITION

THE MOOT COURT HONORS PROGRAM

BOARD OF GOVERNORS Antonino Patti Jacob Halajian Kelsi Grau Elena Cordonean Zachary Wagner Carlos Valenzuela Tannaz Ghayadi Nancy Santiago Cortes

Chair of the Board Internal Operations Chair Advanced Rounds Chair Academic & Preliminary Rounds Chair Scoring Chair Judges Chair Library Chair Alumni Relations & Practice Rounds Chair

FELLOW Dean Matsuyama

PROGRAM MEMBERS Monica Boston Charlotte Bray Alexandra Christensen Andres De La Cruz Jessica Garcia

CO-DIRECTORS Professor Alexandra D'Italia Professor Catherine Carpenter

Rachael Krishnan Andrew Lutfala Claire McCall Vianney Muñoz Simone Poyourow

Philip Schuler Kristin Strange Stephanie Thackeray Julia Unger

THE MOOT COURT HONORS PROGRAM Board of Governors proudly announces SEMIFINAL ORALISTS Camaryn Del Guercio Jonathon Good

Vanessa Martinez Graham Outerbridge

QUARTERFINAL ORALISTS Richard Amidon Anthony Gilmore

Kristy Ngo Christopher Warren

OCTA-FINAL ORALISTS Tyler Battles Matthew Chong Bianca De La Vega

Piper Hinson Samuel Johnson Brenda Martinez Jaurrieta

Ryan Masserman Drew Raymond

Maria Halwadjian Christopher Hanson Ashley Herbert-Cabrera Vlad Idelman Elizabeth Loranger Eric Senebandith

Keith Stafford Dana Sutherland-Ward Brittany-Mawuena Teiko Arman Vardumian Kalin Woodward Oleg Zverev

NOTABLE ORALISTS Shelby Banks Rashara Brown Mario Castellanos Ginger Gibson Ryan Gidney Dylan Gunaratne

BRIEF WRITER FINALISTS Bianca de la Vega Denise Fitter Jonathan Good Dylan Gunaratne

Piper Hinson VladIdelman Samuel Johnson Qiqi Lin

CONGRATULATIONS!

Neil Nabavi Graham Outerbridge Keith Stafford

THE MOOT COURT HONORS PROGRAM Wishes to thank the distinguished members of the . . .

FINAL BENCH The Honorable Goodwin Liu California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu is an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court. Nominated

by Governor Jerry Brown, Justice Liu was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments and sworn into office on September 1, 2011. He was retained by the electorate in 2014. Before joining the state’s highest court, Justice Liu was Professor of Law and Associate Dean at the UC Berkeley School of Law. His primary areas of expertise are constitutional law, education law and policy, and diversity in the legal profession. The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Justice Liu grew up in Sacramento, where he attended public schools. He went to Stanford University and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1991. He attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship and earned a masters degree in philosophy and physiology. Upon returning to the United States, he went to Washington D.C. to help launch the AmeriCorps national service program and worked for two years as a senior program officer at the Corporation for National Service. Justice Liu graduated from Yale Law School in 1998, becoming the first in his family to earn a law degree. He clerked for Judge David Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then worked as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. He went on to clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg during the October 2000 Term. From 2001 to 2003, he worked in the litigation practice of O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C. Justice Liu continues to teach constitutional law as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute. He serves on the Council of the American Law Institute, on the Board of Directors of the James Irvine Foundation, and on the Yale University Council.

The Honorable Rives Kistler Oregon Supreme Court Justice Rives Kistler earned his undergraduate degree at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, earning a BA. He then earned a master's degree at the University of North Carolina before attending law school. Justice Kistler graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1981. After graduation, he served as a law clerk for Charles Clark, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and for Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States. On completing his clerkships, Kistler went into private practice as a litigation associate for in Portland, Oregon from 1983 to 1987. He then moved to the Oregon Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General. Kistler began his judicial career in 1999 when Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber appointed him to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Kistler served on Oregon's intermediate court of appeals until August 14, 2003, when he was himself appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court. Appointed by Governor Ted Kulongoski, he won election to a full six-year term in 2004 and he ran unopposed for reelection in 2010, and 2013, winning a second and third six-year term, and retiring from the bench in 2018.

Vice Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer Arizona Supreme Court Vice Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer joined the Arizona Supreme Court in 2012.

Before that, Justice Timmer was a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals from 2000 to 2012, serving three years as Chief Judge. Notably, she chaired the Court’s Legal Services Task Force, which recommended rules ultimately adopted by the Supreme Court that create a new tier of legal service provider and eliminate ER 5.4. She currently chairs the Court’s Attorney Regulation Advisory Committee, is a member of the National Conference of Bar Examiners Board of Trustees, the Board of Trustees of the Appellate Judges Education Institute, and has been elected to The American Law Institute. Justice Timmer earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, her J. D. magna cum laude, from Arizona State University Law School, and a Masters in Judicial Studies from Duke University Law School.

The Honorable Sabrina S. McKenna Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Sabrina S. McKenna attended the University of Hawai`i at Manoa on a basketball scholarship as an early beneficiary of Title IX. She then received a J.D. from the University of Hawai`i William S. Richardson School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the law review. She served as a civil litigator, corporate counsel, and law professor before being appointed a Hawaii state trial court judge in 1993. As a trial court judge, she presided in courts of limited and general jurisdiction and also served as Senior Judge of the Family Court of the First Circuit. Upon her appointment to the Hawai`i Supreme Court in 2011, she became the first openly LGBTQ Asian Pacific American justice of a state court of last resort. She is a recipient of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award and the ABA's Stonewall Award. She has judged various national moot court competition finals.

THE MOOT COURT HONORS PROGRAM Wishes to thank the distinguished members of the . . .

SEMI FINAL BENCH The Hon. Scott Gordon Scott Gordon serves as a neutral with Signature Resolution in Los Angeles. He was a Judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court and served on that bench for seventeen years. In his latest assignment, he was in the Family Law Division in a Long Cause Court handling complex family law trials and settlement conferences. He was the Supervising Judge of the Criminal Division. He served as the Assistant Supervising Judge of the Criminal Division and in the Family Law Division as the Assistant Supervising Judge and Supervising Judge. In 2016, Judge Gordon was selected by the Chief Justice of California to serve as a member of the Judicial Council of California. In 2017, the Chief Justice of California appointed him as a member of the Chief Justice’s special working group on Bail and Pretrial Detention Reform.

He was appointed as a Judge in 2010 and served as a Court Commissioner from 2002 to 2010.

Prior to his election to the Los Angeles Superior Court as a Court Commissioner, Judge Gordon served with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for sixteen years and as a police officer and detective for the Santa Monica Police Department. Judge Gordon graduated from California State University Dominguez Hills with a B.S. Degree in Public Administration. He attended Southwestern Law School while serving as a police officer. Judge Gordon recently received a certificate from Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation.

While a deputy district attorney Judge Gordon served in a variety assignments including: Central Trials, Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Division, Stuart House, Special Investigations (SID), investigating and prosecuting law enforcement officer and public official misconduct cases. In SID, served on the “Roll-Out Team” responding to officer involved shootings. One of the founding members of the Stalking and Threat Assessment Team.

Judge Gordon has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law for Southwestern University School of Law for thirty years. He has taught Family Law, Community Property, Trial Advocacy, Advanced Criminal Procedure, Forensic Evidence, and the Criminal Response to Terrorism Seminar.

Justice J. Gary Hastings (Ret.) Justice Hastings graduated from Arcadia High School and attended the University of Southern California, graduating with a degree in business in July 1968. He graduated from Southwestern Law School in 1972, Magna Cum Laud. In December 1972, after passing the California Bar Examination, Justice Hastings practiced with the firm of Belcher, Henzie and Biegenzahn for the next thirteen years, beginning as an associate and ending as a partner. He focused on civil matters including litigation in product liability, insurance bad faith and coverage issues, medical malpractice, family law, probate and appellate. In 1985, Governor George Deukmejian appointed Justice Hastings to the Los Angeles County Superior Court where he remained for the next eight years, serving one year in Long Beach and the rest in Torrance where he was the Supervising Judge in 1989 and 1990. He handled every type of trial conducted in those branches. In August 1993, Governor Pete Wilson nominated Justice Hastings to the Court of Appeal, Second District, Fourth Division. After being confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Nominations, Justice Hastings served with Division 4 until he retired on February 19, 2006. He continued to serve with Division 4 in an “assigned” capacity until his replacement was seated in July 2006. In retirement, Justice Hastings has served twelve years as an Adjunct Professor at Southwestern Law School teaching courses in Trial Advocacy, a seminar on the same subject, and working with the moot court teams. He is currently on the Board of Trustees for Southwestern Law School.

The Hon. Mark A. Juhas Judge Mark A. Juhas sits in a general family law assignment on the Los Angeles Superior Court and has done so since November, 2002. He is the current Chair of the California Commission on Access to Justice. Further, he is member of several committees for the Los Angeles Superior Court including immediate past chair of the Access and Fairness committee. For the Judicial Council he is currently on the CJER Governing Committee and the immediate past Co-chair of the Family and Juvenile Advisory Committee; he was a member of the Elkins Family Law Task Force, Elkins Family Law Implementation Task Force and Self- Represented Litigant Task Force. He recently received a lifetime achievement award from the Family Law Section of the State Bar and a Distinguished Service Award from the Judicial Council.

He regularly teaches for, among others, The Los Angeles Superior Court's education program, CJER, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, The National Judicial College and Southwestern Law School.

The Hon. Audra Mori Governor Jerry Brown appointed Audra Mori to the Los Angeles Superior Court in February 2018. She was a family court judge at the Mosk Courthouse until 2021.

Currently, she sits in a civil assignment at the Spring Street Courthouse. Judge Mori is the Chair of the Los Angeles Superior Court Judicial Mentor Program and a member of the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She also serves as a member of many other court committees, judicial organizations, and bar associations. Prior to Judge Mori’s appointment, she was Managing Partner of the Los Angeles Office of Perkins Coie LLP, where she practiced intellectual property and commercial litigation. She earned a J.D. from Cornell Law School and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has served as the President of the Japanese American Bar Association and as a Regional Governor on the Board of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

The Hon. Michael R. Wilner The Hon. Michael R. Wilner was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California in 2011. Judge Wilner previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and a Deputy Chief in the Major Frauds Section of the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. As a federal prosecutor, Judge Wilner specialized in corporate and white collar criminal cases in the district court and the Ninth Circuit. Earlier in his career, Judge Wilner served as a civil enforcement attorney and Senior Counsel with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Los Angeles. Before entering federal service, he was a litigator at the Proskauer Rose law firm. Judge Wilner received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Judge Wilner is actively involved in the Court’s CASA criminal diversion program, the Court’s Patent Pilot Project, and our district’s Magistrate Judge civil consent programs. Judge Wilner currently serves on the Board of Directors of several local bar groups, including the Los Angeles chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

The Hon. Otis D. Wright II United Stated District Court, Central District of California Originally from Tuskegee, Alabama, Judge Wright earned his B.S. degree from California State University, Los Angeles in 1976 and his J.D. from Southwestern in 1980. Before attending college, Judge Wright served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps and then spent 11 years as a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff where he worked while attending undergraduate and law schools. He was elected to Southwestern’s Board of Trustees in 2002, and recognized as Southwestern’s Judicial Officer of the Year for 2011 and the California Association of Black Lawyers Judge of the Year for 2011 and Southwestern's BALSA's Judicial Officer of the Year 2018. Judge Wright began his legal career as a Deputy Attorney General in the Criminal Appeals Section of the California Department of Justice. During his three years in the office, he handled more than 200 appeals before the state’s Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. He went on to join the international law firm of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, LLP, specialists in all matters related to insurance, where he became the firm’s first African American partner. He practiced as a civil litigator with that firm for more than 20 years. During that time, he was also a volunteer attorney with the HIV/AIDS Legal Services Alliance, handling housing and employment discrimination cases as well as preparing documents for the terminally ill. In October 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Judge Wright to the Superior Court where he was assigned to the Substance Abuse Court in Long Beach. Eighteen month later the President of the United States appointed Judge Wright to a lifetime position as a district judge serving the Central District of California. There, he has spearheaded the first federal drug / reentry court in California.

THE MOOT COURT HONORS PROGRAM

QUARTER-FINAL JUDGES Christine Bosclair Hope Casella Maria Cousineau Harout Dimijian

Jeffrey Erdman William Frank James Glassman Jennifer Heinisch

Erica Jansson Karla Kerlin Harvey Sherman Ally Weldon

OCTA-FINAL JUDGES Eman Al-Hassan Alexandra Angel Catherine Carpenter Hope Casella Alexandra D’Italia Lakeisha Dorsey

Jeffrey Erdman William Frank Laura Free James Glassman Erica Jansson Kara O’Brien

Tish Pickett Harvey Sherman Shannon Wainwright Ally Weldon

ROUND ONE AND ROUND TWO JUDGES Monica Boston Charlotte Bray Catherine Carpenter Alexandra Christensen Elena Cordonean Alexandria D’Italia Andres De La Cruz Jessica Garcia Tannaz Ghayadi

Kelsi Grau Jacob Halajian Rachael Krishnan Andrew Lutfala Dean Matsuyama Claire McCall Vianney Muñoz Antonino Patti Simone Poyourow

Nancy Santiago Cortes Philip Schuler Kristin Strange Stephanie Thackeray Julia Unger Carlos Valenzuela Zachary Wagner

SPECIAL THANKS The Moot Court Honors Program Board of Governors would like to thank the 2021-22 Moot Court Program Members, Co-Directors, and Coaches, along with the Office of Student Affairs, Academic Administration, the LAWS Faculty, and Dean Darby Dickerson for their continuous support and commitment to our Program.

The LAWS Spring Problem The Moot Court Honors Program would like to thank Professor Tracy Turner for writing such an interesting, relevant, and fun LAWS Spring Problem. The Program would also like to thank the entire LAWS faculty for promoting and supporting the Intramural Competition this year.

Intramural Competition Justices Moot Court would thank everyone who served as justices for the Intramural Competition. The Program is so grateful for the time and expertise our justices have given to Moot Court and this year’s Competitors.

Moot Court Honors Program Team Members The Moot Court Board and Co-Directors wishes to thank our wonderful 2021-22 Moot Court Program Members for all their hard work and dedication to our Program. We cannot thank our Members enough for their commitment to their appellate advocacy training and their competitions, along with the support each Member showed to their fellow “Mooters’” teams, prospective first-year applicants, and our amazing Intramural Competitors. We wish you all the best of luck for the future.

Southwestern Law School We simply cannot thank Southwestern enough for everything the community have done for this program and the Intramural Competition this year. In particular, our gratitude goes out to Dean Robert Mena, Charlyne Yue, Nicolle Aranda, Associate Dean Doreen Heyer, Brenda Garcia, Hillary Kane, John Kohler, Joshua Kwak, Associate Dean Debra Leathers, Steven Lopez, Richard Manirath, Doug Snyder, Lily Wong, Vice Dean Anahid Gharakhanian, and Vice Dean Dov Waisman, along with the Southwestern Maintenance Staff and Information Technology Staff. We also thank the greater Southwestern Community and Family for their unwavering support of all of teams this year.

SPECIAL THANKS Dean Darby Dickerson The Moot Court Program is so indebted to Dean Dickerson for support of our Program. We are so grateful for the time and effort Dean Dickerson have given us, including serving as a Guest Justice for several Moot Court Competition Teams over the year. It is thanks to her support and the support of the community she leads that the Moot Court Program continues to excel and represent Southwestern Law School throughout the Country.

Coaches The Moot Court Honors Program Board of Governors wishes to extend their gratitude to members of the faculty and alumni who donated their time, commitment, knowledge, and support as team advisors. The eight Moot Court Teams that competed in national competitions this year would not have achieved such great results without the mentorship and coaching of Professor Ronald Aronovsky, Professor Jennifer Rodriguez-Fee, Professor Kathryn Campbell, Professor Christopher David Ruiz Cameron, Professor Catherine Carpenter, Professor Alexandra D’Italia, Oliver Vazquez, and Erica Jansson. We are so grateful for the time and dedication you gave to our teams.

Co-Directors Lastly, thank you to our wonderful Moot Court Directors, Professor Catherine Carpenter and Professor Alexandra D’Italia, for their constant mentorship and support of the Moot Court Program. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve under their leadership and for how well they oversee such a special program. Words cannot express the gratitude we all feel having been a part of their Moot Court family.

THE NEGOTIATION HONORS PROGRAM INTRAMURAL COMPETITION

The Southwestern Law School Negotiation Honors Program sponsors and administers the Negotiation Intramural Competition to give students the opportunity to develop negotiation skills. This year, 88 students participated in the competition. The students compete in teams of two and play the role of lawyers who must represent their client’s interests. In each round, the competitors are given general facts that are known to both sides. Each side is also given separate confidential facts that give important information about their client's goals. Both sides must strategically negotiate to develop creative solutions that meet the interests of both parties.

The competition began with two sets of preliminary rounds. The first set of preliminary rounds took place on Friday, April 1st, with the second set occurring on Saturday, April 2nd. Of the 44 teams that competed in the initial rounds, the top sixteen were invited to compete in the quarter-finals on Sunday, April 3rd. The top eight teams advanced and competed in the semi-final rounds on Saturday, April 9th. These teams had to negotiate a new factual dispute and provide a self-assessment of their negotiation strategy. Finally, the top four teams moved on to the final round that afternoon on Saturday, April 9th.

Competitors are evaluated on their ability to reach and/or work towards creative solutions that meet their client's interests, as well as the needs of the other side. On each day of the competition, judges rank the teams in order of performance and the highest-ranking teams advance. Judges also give individual scores for each competitor. All finalists and high-scoring individual competitors are invited to interview for the 2022-2023 Negotiation Honors Program.

THE NEGOTIATION HONORS PROGRAM INTRAMURAL COMPETITION

THE NEGOTIATION HONORS PROGRAM BOARD OF GOVERNORS Nolan Nardecchia Jacob Lee Mouna Kezbar Charles Danscuk

Chair of the Board Communications Chair Advocates Chair Strategists Chair

SENIOR ADVISORS Rijenea Appling Victory Van Tuyl

FELLOW Ani Nazaryan

RETURNING MEMBERS Mariam Karkashadze Fabiola Martinez

PROGRAM MEMBERS Matthew Behboud I'niah Clark Daniel Cox Cheryl Cruz Dave Fisher Drew Frey Ivan Garcia

CO-DIRECTORS Professor Cristina Knolton Professor April Macaraeg '15

Chase Gardella Evelyn Ghazarian Robert Gissubel Brian Infante Keith Lollis Ani Manvelyan Isamar Negrete-Buitrago

Mandonna Razi Desiree Ruiz-Alfaro Fernando Samayoa Paulina Silva Jessica Smith Alexis Stoker Ellen Zakharian

THE NEGOTIATION HONORS PROGRAM Board of Governors proudly announces SEMI-FINAL AND FINAL ADVOCATES Liz Corbett Roksana Czech Natalie Diaz Sean Fiore

Angelica Gonzalez Andrew Hutchings Tsen-Yin (Pecko) Lin Sarah Longalong

Kelly Mayer J.R. Nessary Sirarpi Oganesyan Tia Owens

Brianna Rodriguez Constanze (Stanzi) Rowe Joshua Rubinton McKenna Stephens

Audrey Levy Armine Margaryan Kimberly Quijada Benjamin Refoua

Jacob Schwartz Kimia Shariat Meghan Sproule Samantha Williger

Benjamin Refoua Brianna Rodriguez Ariannie Rodriguez Jacob Schwartz

Kimia Shariat Kristine Zakarian Jacob Zimel Aram Zohrabian

QUARTER-FINAL ADVOCATES Ashley Akhavan Christina Belmonte Ernesto Bustinza Anayensy De la Cruz-Zepeda

Reid Evanich Sierra Gonzales Cipriana Huerta Haik Kolsuzyan

BRIEF WRITER FINALISTS Ashley Akhavan Roksana Czech Eric Davis Andrew Hutchings

Mariana Khudoyan Tessa Krey Lauren Kubiske J.R. Nessary

CONGRATULATIONS!

THE NEGOTIATION HONORS PROGRAM wishes to thank the distinguished members of the...

FINAL BENCH The Honorable Cynthia Brisbon Cynthia Brisbon is an Administrative Law Judge for the Illinois Department of Public Health. Judge Brisbon presides over cases wherein nursing homes are attempting to involuntarily remove elderly and mentally disabled residents from their facilities. Judge Brisbon was born and raised in Chicago, IL, where she developed a strong desire to help others. She started her career in public service as a law school intern working with the Northwestern Center on Wrongful Conviction clinic to free death row inmates. Following law school, she served as a Public Defender for 9 years, representing indigent clients in criminal court and juvenile abuse and neglect court. Judge Brisbon went on to serve as Supervisory Regional Counsel for the Department of Children & Family Services. Here she supervised legal staff and represented the Department in circuit court cases in which children were removed from the homes of suspected child abusers.

Paul Bent '78 Paul Bent is an attorney at the Law Offices of Paul Bent in Long Beach, California, where he represents clients in all areas of business, finance, transactions, contracts, and ventures. He is also a Senior Managing Director of The Alta Group, an international consulting firm specializing in equipment leasing and finance, where he frequently serves as a testifying expert witness in equipment leasing matters. Mr. Bent also serves as President and General Counsel at GoodSmith&Co., Incorporated, a boutique investment banking firm specializing in large ticket equipment leasing and asset-based corporate financing. In addition to his legal and financial activities, Mr. Bent is a professional recording session singer and musician who has performed for nine seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale at Walt Disney Concert Hall. His voice can be heard on major motion picture and video game soundtracks, including the popular “World of Warcraft” series. He earned his A.B. with honors in mathematics and computer science from UCLA and his J.D. from Southwestern Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of the Southwestern University Law Review. Mr. Bent has served as a judge in the Southwestern Negotiation Intramural Competition since its inception.

Rajendra Sardesai ’93 Raj Sardesai is a manager, scientist and attorney with broad managerial, technical and legal skills with U.S. and international experience. He has extensive experience in strategic alliances, innovation, development of intellectual property (IP) and licensing. He currently advises senior management of companies regarding new growth platforms, joint ventures, and IP development. He is also President of two start-ups: VasoInnovations, Inc. and EupneaTechnologies, Inc. Mr. Sardesai previously had worldwide responsibility for all IP matters for Avery Dennison Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, including IP litigation, filings, transactions, licensing, and IP strategy for new products. Prior experience also includes patent prosecution and litigation at Irell and Manella, LLP of Los Angeles, in technological areas such as pharmaceutical chemistry and polymers for contact lenses, and risk management at Parsons, a worldwide engineering company in Pasadena. Mr. Sardesai holds a J.D. from Southwestern Law School, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Manchester University and MBA from Cranfield University.

THE NEGOTIATION HONORS PROGRAM

SEMI-FINAL JUDGES Maleaha Brown Diana Budninskiy '15

Geoff Canty Tamar Chobanian '21

Nicholas Papajohn '14 Jenny Volanti '18

Mouna Kezbar Cristina Knolton Derek Knolton

April Macaraeg '15 Alexis Stoker Rosemary Tamayo '21

Evelyn Ghazarian Robert Gissubel Brian Infante Mariam Karkashadze Jacob Lee Keith Lollis Ani Manvelyan Nolan Nardecchia

Ani Nazaryan Mandonna Razi Desiree Ruiz-Alfaro Fernando Samayoa Paulina Silva Jessica Smith Alexis Stoker Ellen Zakharian

QUARTER-FINAL JUDGES Vanessa Barnett '21 Amanda Figueroa '16 Drew Frey

ROUND ONE JUDGES I'niah Clark Daniel Cox Cheryl Cruz Charles Danscuk Dave Fisher Drew Frey Ivan Garcia Chase Gardella

SPECIAL THANKS The Negotiation Honors Program Board of Governors wishes to extend their gratitude to members of the NHP Class of 2022, Directors, Coaches, Student Affairs Office, Academic Administration Office, and Dean Darby Dickerson, who devote their time, support, commitment, and knowledge to our program.

Mandatory Laws Spring Problem: The Negotiation Honors Board wishes to thank Professor Tracy Turner for her effort and skill in writing a creative, yet challenging, LAWS Spring Problem.

Mandatory LAWS Negotiation Round Judges: NHP would like to thank all of the judges who dedicated their time to provide our students with feedback, guidance, and advice, that allows them to become stronger competitors and negotiators. Specifically, we thank Anahid Gharakhanian, Dov Waisman, Cristina Knolton, Maleaha Brown, Bridgette M. de Gyarfas, Christine Lofgren, Harriet Rolnick, Michael Berger, Ronald Aronovsky, Kathryn Campbell, Dinah Minkoff, Janet Philibosian, Andrea Ramos, and Richard Jolly.

Intramural Competition Judges: We would like to thank all of our intramural competition judges who dedicated their time and advice to our first-year students competing In the NHP Intramural competition, Your dedication and hard work are appreciated by us always and we look forward to having you return In the future!

Negotiation Honors Program Team Members: The Negotiation Honors Program Student Board wishes to highlight the tremendous effort put forth by all of the Negotiation Honors Program team members in drafting and refining the Intramural Competition Negotiation problems, staffing the competition events, and mentoring the students participating in the competition. Specifically, we thank Alexis Stoker for writing the problem for the Mandatory Rounds; your creativity, dedication, and hard work is appreciated!

Southwestern Law School: This event could not be possible without the unwavering support and help of Nicolle Aranda, Associate Dean Robert Mena, Charlyne Yue, Associate Dean Doreen Heyer, Brenda Garcia, Vice Dean Dov Waisman, Vice Dean Anahid Gharakhanian, Hillary Kane, John Kohler, Associate Dean Debra Leathers, Steven Lopez, Joshua Kwak, Richard Manirath, Doug Snyder, and Lily Wong. We would also like to extend our sincerest thanks to Juan Campos, Director of Facilities, and the entire Southwestern Maintenance Staff.

SPECIAL THANKS Co-Directors Words cannot express our appreciation for our Co-Directors, Professor Cristina Knolton and Professor April Macaraeg. The two of you have had such a positive influence on all of us, and we are so grateful to have you as mentors at Southwestern. You have made us not only competitionready, but practice-ready. For both of you to give your all to NHP each and every day means the world, and we are forever in your debt.

NHP Family: Thank you to Derek Knolton for his guidance and help with this year's Intramural Competition. You have always shown such dedication to our team throughout the years and we always appreciate your advice, feedback, and knowledge! And notably, thank you to our "Queen of Negotiation," Vanessa Barnett. Your leadership and mentorship to us all means the world, and our program would not be the same without you.

Dean Darby Dickerson: A very special thank you to Dean Darby Dickerson for leading the Southwestern Community with excellence this past year. Southwestern is so lucky to have you as our Dean. A huge thanks for your unwavering support of the Negotiation Honors Program. You have helped implement critical policies for our program. You have supported us in hosting a new National Negotiation Competition. We are so thankful for all the time and effort you have devoted to making the Honors Programs successful. Thank you for your leadership and guidance.

THE TRIAL ADVOCACY HONORS PROGRAM INTRAMURAL COMPETITION The Southwestern Law School Trial Advocacy Honors Program (TAHP) administers the Trial Advocacy Intramural Competition to give students the opportunity to develop trial advocacy skills. The 2022 Trial Advocacy Problem was adapted by Professor Joseph Esposito, Co-Director of TAHP. Throughout the competition, the advocates compete against one another by conducting direct examinations, crossexaminations, and closing arguments in a courtroom setting. All advocates must prepare presentations for both the prosecution and defense, and they are notified only ten minutes prior to the round as to which side they will represent.

The competition preliminary rounds were held on Tuesday, March 29th, Thursday, March 31st, and Friday, April 1st. A total of thirty advocates performed closing arguments. Fourteen advocates were selected to compete in the Second Round on Tuesday, April 5th, and Wednesday, April 6th. Each advocate performed a direct examination and a closing argument. At the conclusion of each round, the advocates were given critiques by TAHP’s directors regarding how to improve their advocacy skills.

The top eight advocates were invited to participate in the Quarter-Final Rounds, which took place simultaneously on Friday, April 8th. In the Quarter-Finals, each advocate conducted a direct examination, a cross-examination, and a closing argument. The advocates participating in the QuarterFinals were critiqued by a panel of TAHP alumni and coaches who are practicing litigators. The top four advocates moved on to the Semi-Final Rounds that took place earlier today, Saturday, April 9th.

These advocates again conducted a direct examination and a cross-examination before giving a closing argument followed by feedback from TAHP's alumni and coaches. The top two advocates from the Semi-Final Rounds immediately advanced to the Championship Round, which also took place today, Saturday, April 9th. After the trial, the advocates received critiques from the Final Bench, consisting of The Honorable Sam Ohta, The Honorable Akemi Arakaki, and The Honorable Robert G. Chu. Throughout the competition, advocates were evaluated regarding their professionalism, overall presence, organization, issue-spotting, control of witnesses, quality of questions, and the effectiveness of their arguments. After each round, the judges scored the advocates based on their evaluations. The scores were then totaled and the advocates with the highest scores advanced. All finalists, as well as select high-scoring advocates, will receive invitations this summer to interview with the Board of Governors regarding membership selection for the Trial Advocacy Honors Program.

THE TRIAL ADVOCACY HONORS PROGRAM INTRAMURAL COMPETITION

THE TRIAL ADVOCACY HONORS PROGRAM

BOARD OF GOVERNORS Willow Karfiol Laura Lascoe Alex Welfringer Francisco Yeverino Nupur Apte

Chair of the Board Competitions Chair Academics Chair Communications Chair Alumni Relations Chair

SENIOR ADVOCATES Anora Abramova Joseph Ajeigbe Ayman Bahrun

Alexa Chavez Mahnam Ghorbani Christina Kartashyan

Lauren Krug Victoria Levin Markisha Roches

Andrew Gianelli Rosemary Karapetyan Taylor Kruse Zara Mokhtar Lily Pahlevani Amrita Patil

Lindsay Roginski Armando Sanchez Kari Van Sinden John Villanueva Ashley Wold

JUNIOR ADVOCATES Katherine Brewer Vivian Chen Alana Chester Haley Clark Julia Eghbal Kaitlyn Fry

CO-DIRECTORS Professor Joseph Esposito '89 Professor Bill Seki '88

THE TRIAL ADVOCACY HONORS PROGRAM Board of Governors proudly announces FINAL ADVOCATES Colleen Blackburn Ladijah Corder Dennis Horton Destinee Moya

Joseph O’Hanlon Paulina Sadecka Rachel Stern Justen Williams

HONORABLE MENTION ADVOCATES Cristina Cirrincione Karine Hafuta

BRIEF WRITER FINALISTS Alin Abrahamian Haik Kolsuzyan Mingyu Kong

Enrique Lopez Salazar Guillaume Mondot Christopher Warren

CONGRATULATIONS!

Samantha Williger Oleg Zverev

THE TRIAL ADVOCACY HONORS PROGRAM wishes to thank the distinguished members of the...

FINAL BENCH The Honorable Akemi Arakaki Los Angeles County Superior Court in California Akemi Arakaki was appointed to the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, in December of 2010. She began her current assignment, presiding judge of the juvenile courts in July 2021. Prior to this role, she served as the supervising judge of the dependency court. She has presided over dependency, juvenile justice, and criminal matters in Monterey Park and in the Antelope Valley.

After graduating from Schurr High School in Montebello, Judge Arakaki received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Spanish from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and her J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 1998.

As the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court of Los Angeles County, she is responsible for the operations of the dependency and juvenile justice courts, consisting of almost 50 judicial officers in eight different sites across the county. She is also presiding over matters in a collaborative court focused on serving transition-age youth.

Prior to her appointment, Judge Arakaki served as a deputy public defender for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. As a deputy public defender, she dedicated most of her career to working with youth in the juvenile justice courts throughout the county.

She has served on the Board of the Little Tokyo Service Center since 2009. She also served as the President of the Japanese American Bar Association of Los Angeles in 2004 and as a Commissioner on the statewide Commission on Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs from 2003-2007.

The Honorable Robert G. Chu Los Angeles County Superior Court in California Judge Robert G. Chu was one of the youngest judges when he was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2018. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Chu was a Deputy Public Defender for Los Angeles County since 2006, handled more than 100 misdemeanor and felony jury trials and was a supervising Deputy in Charge of the Lancaster Branch. He was also a Litigation attorney for the Law Offices of Masry & Vititoe, the law firm that was portrayed in the academy award winning film, Erin Brockovich. Judge Chu graduated from Southwestern Law School in 2005 and credits Professor Bill Seki, Professor Joey Esposito and the skills he learned from the Trial Advocacy Honors Program in preparing and giving him a head start in his legal career.

The Honorable Sam Ohta Los Angeles County Superior Court in California Sam Ohta is a Judge with the Los Angeles County Superior Court currently assigned as the Supervising Judge of the Criminal Division. Previously, he served as the Assistant Supervising Judge of the Criminal Division, Supervising Judge of Traffic operations, Assistant Supervising Judge at the Central Arraignment Court, and Site Judge at the Metropolitan Courthouse. Prior to his current administrative role, Judge Ohta served for seven years as a long-cause trial judge on Complex Criminal Trial Panel, better known as the “9th Floor” at the Criminal Justice Center. In 2018, Judge Ohta was selected by the Chief Justice of California to serve as a member of the Pretrial Operations Reform Working Group. He is a past member of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Executive Committee and currently serves on the Personnel & Budget Committee.

Judge Ohta was appointed as a Judge in 1998 by Governor Pete Wilson. Prior to his appointment, he served with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office as a deputy district attorney in the Hardcore Gang Division prosecuting gang homicides. Judge Ohta also served with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office as agency general counsel for the Community Redevelopment Agency. He also worked as a corporate attorney with the firm, Jones Day. Judge Ohta graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. Degree and earned his law degree from Loyola Law School.

Judge Ohta is a faculty member for California Judicial Education and Research on topics such as felony sentencing, advanced felony sentencing, sex crimes sentencing, trial management, jury selection and jury instructions. He is also a faculty member for Judicial Education Series of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Ohta served as an Adjunct Professor of Law for Glendale University College of Law on Criminal Law and Constitutional Law.

THE TRIAL ADVOCACY HONORS PROGRAM wishes to thank the accomplished members of the...

SEMI-FINAL ROUNDS Jeremy Davis '11 Esther Kim '18 Michael Morse '13

Anastasia Sagorsky '13 Daniel Selarz '12 Jennifer Turner '07

QUARTER-FINAL ROUNDS Doug Baek '08 Roza Egiazarian '16 Hossein Eshaghi '20 Andrew Figueras '20 Arsine Grigoryan '17

Meagan Koontz '21 Michelle Lewis '17 Andy Lugo '16 Mark Montellana '21 Nicole Rossi-Standley '21

PRELIMINARY ROUNDS TAHP Co-Director & Professor Joseph Esposito ’89 TAHP Co-Director & Professor Bill Seki ’88

Parisa Saleki '18 Ashley Stone '18 Sam Stone '17 Roger Wilkerson ‘18

SPECIAL THANKS The Trial Advocacy Honors Program wishes to thank the TAHP Class of 2022, our Co-Directors, Coaches, the Student Affairs Office, and Dean Darby Dickerson who donated their time, knowledge, and support to the team.

TAHP’S CLASS OF 2022 Congratulations and thank you to the class of 2022. Although our class was deprived of many of the traditions and experiences that make TAHP so special, we thank you for the dedication you’ve put into our program. The Class of 2022 chose to step up and demonstrate the continued dedication and support that makes TAHP a family. Your commitment to making TAHP the best team possible while struggling with a global pandemic, distance learning, and ever-changing COVID protocols is an achievement that TAHP will remember and always cherish. The TAHP legacy continues with you all.

Once a TAHPer, always a TAHPer. #TAHPHERD Thank you and congratulations on finishing this milestone, Class of 2022. Continue making TAHP proud.

CO-DIRECTORS JOSEPH ESPOSITO ’89 AND BILL SEKI ‘88 Our Professors not only strive to teach us trial advocacy skills, but they also strive to prepare us for practice. Although this year’s class was met with the added challenge of advocating remotely, our Professors stepped up and offered their incredible patience and support to continue fostering our growth in and out of the courtroom. Year after year, student advocates hear from graduates and coaches that Professor Esposito’s and Professor Seki’s mentorship is crucial to their budding success.

The class of 2022 could not agree more. Thank you for your guidance, your compassion in teaching, and your time. Mere words will never describe our sincerest appreciation for all that you do for TAHP.

2021-2022 TAHP COACHES & ALUMNI Head Coaches Phillip Bather ’10, Jeremy Davis’11, Michael Morse '13, Jennifer Turner '07, and Assistant Coaches Anet Badali ’12, Mackenzie Brown '13, Jezabel Chavez '19, Sara Greco '10, Esther Kim ’18, Michelle Lewis '17, Mark Montellana '21, Negin Mostadim ‘14, Melissa Romo ’17.

Dedication doesn’t even begin to describe what our coaches provide to us in terms of mentorship and guidance. From late-night zoom practices that went on into the early morning hours to giving up your weekends and holidays to get another practice in, you tirelessly pushed us to become the best professionals we can be. Thank you for your passion, patience, and for your love of TAHP. We are unbelievably appreciative of your help and are completely in awe of your talents. We hope we made you proud every step of the way.

SPECIAL THANKS SOUTHWESTERN LAW SCHOOL The Student Affairs Office, Institutional Advancement Office and Academic Administration Office, Communications & Marketing Office especially Associate Dean Robert Mena, Charlyne Yue and Nicolle Aranda, Associate Dean Debra Leathers, John Kohler, Associate Dean Doreen Heyer, and Brenda Garcia.

Our great appreciation is also shared with those who help support our organization from a logistical standpoint. TAHP is nothing without the Student Affairs, Institutional Advancement, and Academic Administration Offices setting a solid foundation upon which the TAHP team is able to build its pillars of success. Your assistance and support in this hybrid setting allowed us to operate as efficiently as possible and we cannot thank you enough for your efforts in making our participation in competitions possible.

DEAN DARBY DICKERSON Thank you for being a role model to the Southwestern community through these most unprecedented times of what advocacy truly is. In your first year at Southwestern, we know you have worked hard to ensure not only that Southwestern remained a safe space for our community, but also a safe space of strong, resilient advocates. We are honored to welcome you to our school, but more importantly, to welcome you into our #tahpherd, especially as a former trial advocacy coach.