RALEIGH, N.C. – Second-year Campbell Law School students Mary Frances Dudley and Sloan Smith won the American Bar Association Regional Client Counseling Competition at the law school on Saturday, Feb. 14. The duo will now move on to compete against 11 other regional champions at the national finals, March 12-14, at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, N.C.
“I am immensely proud of Mary Frances and Sloan for their efforts during the competition,” said Campbell Law Dean J. Rich Leonard. “They were exceptionally prepared, poised, and on top of their game. I look forward to seeing them accomplish even more things over the remainder of their law school careers.”
Mary Frances Dudley & Sloan Smith
En route to the title, Dudley and Smith competed in three preliminary rounds and one semifinal round. They went head-to-head against teams from UNC-Chapel Hill and Charlotte Law School in the final round. The pair was coached by Professor Melissa Essary.
“In ranking them first in the competition, judges commented that Mary Frances and Sloan exhibited the characteristics of great lawyers: empathy, competence, and confidence,” said Essary. “It’s been my great honor to coach this winning team.”
Campbell Law served as the host institution for the event, welcoming 11 total teams and participants from five additional schools.
The ABA Client Counseling Competition emphasizes the importance of preventative law and the need to be an effective counselor in the law office. The competition tests the students’ ability to deal with a client’s non-legal goals as well as their legal concerns. Students must probe the client for relevant details while putting the client at ease. Last, teams must analyze the law as applied to the client’s issue and provide a plan of action.
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Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law School has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. The school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 3,650 alumni, including more than 2,500 who reside and work in North Carolina. In September 2009, Campbell Law relocated to a state-of-the-art building in downtown Raleigh. For more information, visit http://law.campbell.edu.
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