Duquesne Law Students Finn Skovdal, Christy Gamble, John Woodruff and Danielle Wete won first place at the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Regional Competition, which was held during the Mid-Atlantic Black Law Students Association Convention in Pittsburgh from Feb. 13-17.
The Duquesne students competed against 15 other law schools and defeated Howard University School of Law in the championship round. As part of the competition, the team participated in a mock trial involving medical malpractice and violation of constitutional rights claims. They were required to prepare and argue for both the plaintiff and the defense. For the final round, the teams did not know if they were arguing for the plaintiff or defense until 30 minutes before the last trial.
The team will participate in the final competition at the 45th annual National Black Law Students Association Convention in Atlanta, Ga., from March 6-10.
In addition, Gamble received the Best Advocate award at the regional competition. Adjunct Law Professors Lisa Barnett and Brock McCandless coached the award-winning team.