IU Law team makes semi-finals in trials

With the case theme "Elroy Fudd, the caskets are us," the IU Law team advanced to the semi-finals in the Regional National Trial Competition in Chicago. Second-year law students Jason Towns, Layne Keele and Leslie Morse were part of the team that advanced Feb. 7, but ultimately fell to Loyola.\nThe IU team competed at the Daley Center and argued its case against other law schools from Indiana and Illinois. Twenty-three teams competed for the top eight spots, one of which was won by IU.\n"It was great, some of these schools practice all year for it," second year law student David Francisco said. "I thought we did pretty well considering we had taken litigation the semester before and only had time to practice for three weeks."\nThe competition lasted for three days, with each team arguing one side of the case each day and the top eight teams competing for two national spots the third day. This was the first time this IU team competed in the tournament.\n"There are actually three trial teams," Francisco said. "This is the second-year team, so this is the first time any of us have competed against other schools."\nIn this competition, three-person teams are composed with four alternates. One team member prepares the defense of the case, another the prosecution and the third prepares both sides.\nThese cases are then heard in front of three actual judges.\n"They use real judges, and this gives you a real sense of what it will be like in the real world of litigation," Keele said.\nThe team received a mock case of a man attempting to bury his dead mother when the handle on the casket broke and her lifeless 425-pound body was hurled out of the casket and thrown down a hill.\nThe man was suing the casket company for suffering emotional distress, and the casket company was in turn shifting the blame to the funeral home, claiming they used an inappropriate casket size.\n"The most difficult aspect of this case was keeping a straight face," Towns said. \nTowns said the team also faced difficulty in being sensitive with word choice. \n"It is difficult to discourse a woman who is 425 pounds with sensitivity, using the right words as not to offend (those) who are listening," he said.\nKeele said the tournament is beneficial because these trials give law students a chance to have an experience in an actual courtroom setting.\n"It was kind of eye-opening to be out there making the motions and having motions ruled on and objected on," Keele said. "It is a really good experience to get trial experience under your belt while you're still in law school."\nThe team hopes to compete in the American Trial Association tournament next year. \n"Next year I would like to bring home a trophy of some kind," said Towns. "We were one match away from the hardware, and gosh darn it, I want some"