First-Year Students Face Prominent Panel in Annual Competition

Monday, April 13, 2009

Fri, 04 Apr 2008

First-year law student Ben Walton (middle left) was named champion of this year’s Liberty University School of Law 1L Moot Court Tournament. The final round of the fourth-annual tournament was held in the law school’s Supreme Courtroom and was judged by a panel of nine judges, including The Honorable Frank Sullivan, Jr. of the Indiana Supreme Court. Jackson Walsh (right)achieved runner-up status in the final round.

After the first rounds were completed, each competitor faced a second round in which they were required to represent the opposing perspective from that previously argued. The top sixteen students from the early rounds advanced to the quarter-finals; the top eight advanced to the semi-finals; and the top two from each semi-final round advanced to the finals. The final argument centered on a suit filed under Indiana’s Dram Shop Act.

One panel judge, The Honorable F. Patrick Yeatts of the Campbell County General District Court, commented on the finalists’ outstanding delivery and style, saying, “The participants were articulate, concise and well prepared. The arguments made by these 1L students would rival those expected from seasoned trial attorneys. The excellent training these students have received is evident, and Liberty should be commended in advance for the positive impact these students will soon make as practicing attorneys.”

The final round judges included The Honorable Frank Sullivan, Jr., Indiana Supreme Court; The Honorable Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court, Western District of Virginia; The Honorable James C. Turk, U.S. District Court, Western District of Virginia; The Honorable William N. Alexander, II, Circuit court for Pittsylvania County; The Honorable J. Michael Gamble, Circuit Court for Amherst County; The Honorable Mosby Garland Perrow, III, Circuit Court for the City of Lynchburg; The Honorable R. Edwin Burnette, Lynchburg General District Court; The Honorable Kenneth W. Farrar, Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Nelson County; and The Honorable F. Patrick Yeatts, Campbell County General District Court.