FIU Law’s Trial Team has won the Honorable E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition in Orlando, Florida, capping a weekend of excellent performances in one of the state’s most challenging trial advocacy competitions.
Both of FIU Law’s teams advanced to the semifinal rounds, and three of our students were named Finalists for the competition’s Best Advocate Award.
The championship-winning team, which went undefeated through four rounds, was comprised Elroy M. John, Jr., Megan Roth, Kelly Scott, and Dane Stuhlsatz. The second semi-finalist team also performed exceptionally well, going undefeated through the preliminary rounds, and was comprised of Selena Gibson, Juan Mercado, Anabel Miguelez, Arvind Singh, and Erica Weintraub.
“Our students are smart, savvy, and tough,” said Professor H. Scott Fingerhut, Assistant Director of the Trial Advocacy Program. “They are willing to do what it takes to be champions, and have a deep desire to achieve and the willingness to put in many hours of practice, on weekends and long into the night.”
Ms. Scott was also named the competition’s Best Advocate, and Mr. John and Ms. Weintraub were named finalists for the same honor.
“Winning is great, to be sure,” Professor Fingerhut added. “But the real take away is the grace our students display, especially in the heat of trial, a reflection of their consistent commitment to excellence and FIU’s special brand of passionate principled advocacy that Professor H.T. Smith, our Program Director, and I strive to instill as we cultivate the next generation of great trial lawyers.”
The Zehmer teams were coached by Professor Fingerhut, along with Trial Team alumnus Ari Goldberg ’09, and Pallavi Garg, an alumna of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and an Assistant State Attorney in Miami.
The Honorable E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition was sponsored by the Young Lawyers’ Section Florida Justice Association, and was held at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida.