The FIU College of Law Trial Team competed in the prestigious Georgetown National White Collar Crime Mock Trial Invitational held in Washington, D.C.
FIU had eight student advocates compete on two trial teams at this competition: 3Ls Michael Leatherman, Gabriella Nunez, Norhan Saber and Adham Fathy; and 2LS Callie Moore, Jada Scott, Scott Paula, and Sydney Ross. They competed over two days against New York University, Florida State University, University of Texas (2025 Winner), Case Western Reserve University, Fordham University, and Loyola University New Orleans. The team won their matches against NYU, Fordham, and Loyola.
The following schools also participated in this mock trial competition: William & Mary, King Hall, Brooklyn, Scalia Law, Virginia, University of Pennsylvania, and LMU Loyola.
The case file for this year’s competition involved the federal criminal prosecution of a bank that was charged with conspiracy to launder millions of dollars for an international cocaine trafficking organization in Bulgaria. The defense argued that it trained its employees to identify money laundering, established an anti-money laundering division, and was responsible for bringing this money laundering operation to the attention of the government.
Professor H.T. Smith said, “I am proud of how hard these students worked, how valiantly they fought, and how powerfully they represented client and cause. They were courageous, tenacious, and resilient.”
Our Georgetown team prepared their trial stories over 6 weeks, on weekdays and weekends, to create passionate and persuasive stories for the competition. The team was coached by trial team alums Ashley Lherisson (JD‘ 16), Victoria Thacker (JD‘ 18), and Professor Ari S. Goldberg (JD‘ 12). Also contributing to the team were United States District Court Judge Rodney Smith, former Assistant United States Attorney Harry Wallace, Assistant United States Attorney Reginald Culyer, Attorney Reginald “Tony” Moss, Trial Team Alum TerryAnn Howell (JD‘ 14), and Professor H.T. Smith, Founding Director of the Trial Advocacy Program.
The Georgetown National White Collar Crime Mock Trial Invitational is hosted by the Georgetown University Law Center Barrister’s Council.