Cooley students gain courtroom experience in mock trial competition

WMU-Cooley Law School students gained valuable courtroom-like experience March 7 when the Auburn Hills campus Mock Trial Board hosted a mock trial competition.

Twelve two-person teams participated in the competition. The trial gave the students the opportunity to develop legal skills through hands-on education in the courtroom. In the competition, the teams were asked to litigate a murder case.

"It was a challenging competition," said Auburn Hills Assistant Dean and Professor Lisa Halushka, who served as the trial judge. "The skill level was like none I'd ever seen from all the student litigants. I was very impressed by, and proud of, the student participants. They worked hard and it showed."

In the end, the final two teams, David Wolf and Stacey Yelda versus Peter Mancini and Ron MacKool, went head-to-head. After more than an hour of trial, the overall winner and winner of the mock trial trophy was the team of Mancini and MacKool.

Published: Mon, Mar 16, 2015