Campbell Law Team wins New York ABA NAAC Regional Championship

Brooklyn, New York — Two Campbell University School of Law Moot Court Teams participated in the New York Regional Competition of the American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition held in Brooklyn, New York March 1-3, 2007. The team of Walter Webster, Chris Autry and Cat Hamilton won the Regional Championship, and will advance to the National Finals to be held in Chicago Mar. 29-31. The Team of John Shedden, Jeff Gillette and Katie Thrall made the Campbell win possible by keeping pace with a strong St. John’s team in the third preliminary round, ensuring that the Webster-Autry-Hamilton Team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.In the first two preliminary rounds, the Shedden-Gillette-Thrall Team posted a 1-1 record, defeating John Marshall of Chicago and losing a close round to St. John’s, while the Webster-Autry-Hamilton Team was 2-0, defeating teams from Pace University and St. John’s. In the third preliminary round, they lost a close round to Chicago-Kent, beating them on the orals, but losing because Chicago Kent had the top brief. Their overall won-lost record placed them in the elimination rounds, however, and they promptly defeated the top seed, Temple University. They moved on to face, and defeat, Boston University to clinch the Regional Championship.Four teams from each of the five ABA Regional sites move on to Chicago for the National Finals. The other New York Regional winners were Chicago Kent, and perennial powers South Texas and BYU. In addition to the schools Campbell faced, the 35 teams competing in the Regional included teams from Harvard, the University of Texas, the University of Miami, Penn State, LSU, Florida A&M, McGeorge, Seton Hall, Howard, John Marshall-Atlanta, Baltimore and Akron.The Campbell Teams were coached by Professors Rick Lord, Robin Muse and Julie Noland, and accompanied by Professors Lord and Muse. Both teams practiced for hours in the weeks preceding the competition, and will devote countless additional hours preparing for the National Finals. Their attitude, professionalism and competitive spirit made clear once again why Campbell students are among the best in the nation.