We Are the Champions, My Friends

Last Thursday, I began my final guaranteed round of trial team competition in law school. My team participated in the west coast regional of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Student Trial Advocacy Competition. The competition was in Santa Monica this year, which was very convenient for us!

The way the competition works is each team assigns two attorneys to work on each side of the case. For example, on my team, Alyssa and I worked on the defense side of the case, and we served as plaintiff witnesses. Chalak and Mane were plaintiff attorneys, and they played our defense witnesses when Alyssa and I were attorneys.

There were three guaranteed rounds, ensuring every team would get to do each side of the case at least one time. We competed as plaintiffs on Thursday and Friday, so Mane and Chalak were the attorneys. Then, Saturday morning, we were on Defense, with Alyssa and I as attorneys. After 3 rounds, they cut down to 4 teams. We made the cut at that point and were the #1 ranked team, because we were undefeated! Then we went to the semi-finals Saturday afternoon, and we were defense again (my side). Pepperdine sent 2 teams, and our other team was ranked #2 at that point. We won that round as well against Cal Western, and that put us in the final round on Sunday morning against our other Pepperdine team!

With an all Pepperdine final round, we had a coin flip to determine which side each team would present. My team won the coin flip, and we chose to be defense (the side Alyssa and I were attorneys on).

Sunday morning was an interesting round, because we knew every argument the other side would make and every question they would ask. We had a judge that ran a tight ship, though, and that was beneficial for cross-examination because it kept witnesses under control (so they couldn't waste the other team's time).

After a few hours, we found out that my team won all three judges in the final round, winning by 7 points over the other team. Ultimately, my team won 13 of the 15 judges who scored us that weekend. We will now advance to the AAJ National Competition in Las Vegas from March 31 - April 3.

Our victory won us a place on the Pepperdine Hall of Fame wall, and we will also have a picture on Coach Caldwell's wall since we won the tournament! Now, we're out to get another picture on that wall at nationals!

I'm copying the text of an article about our team from the Pepperdine Website. It's available here if anyone is interested, but I'm sure the text will be removed at some point, so this will preserve it.

Pepperdine Takes First and Second at AAJ Student Trial Advocacy Competition Regional
Both teams from Pepperdine University School of Law reached the finals at the west regional of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Student Trial Advocacy Competition in Santa Monica, California, March 3-6.
The team of Lauren Castles, Alyssa Ayotte, Mane Sardaryan, and Chalak Richards were the champions. The team of Kimberly McCall, Kelsey Stapler, Benjamin Adams, and Brittany Lane were the second place team. Pepperdine defeated more than 16 teams from schools such as USD, Cal-Western, and Chapman in the semifinals.
Richards won a "Most Civil" award, Castles won an "Outstanding Witness" award, and Adams was given an "Outstanding Attorney" award. "I believe the fact that the final round came down to Pepperdine vs. Pepperdine reflects what made our success possible," says Castles. "We are coached by, and prepare with, the finest legal minds."
"It is simply astounding to place both teams in the finals in a regional competition that is as competitive as ours,” says Vice Dean Tim Perrin. “We are thankful for our dedicated trial team coaches--Harry Caldwell and Naomi Goodno--and for our talented student advocates who worked so diligently for this success."
Mane Sardaryan looks forward to nationals, which will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada in a few weeks. “Some people might say that winning trial team competitions is all about thinking on your feet and being a confident public speaker,” she says. “While I think that those things are important in order to be good, I truly believe that preparation is the key to being great. The reason why we dominated this weekend was a result of the hard work and dedication of all the people involved. From the best trial team coaches to my fellow talented trial team members to the gracious guest judges who were willing to volunteer their extra time to help us practice, we all put in the time, and it definitely showed this past weekend.”
Since 1972, Pepperdine's School of Law has had a developed advocacy program competing at the highest levels. This important, time honored law school tradition, allows students to hone advocacy and public speaking skills while participating in realistic appellate, trial, and dispute resolution proceedings.