By Kevin Byrnes
Detroit Mercy Law
Unfortunately, the Titans didn’t quite make it to the NCAA Basketball Tournament this year. But the team of Adam Fucile and Joseph Tung led the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law to the “Final Four” in the prestigious National Transactional LawMeet competition. Like the NCAA Tournament, the LawMeet competition starts with teams from schools across the country (there were 84 this year). This year they met in seven regional competitions in February, with the winners earning the right to compete in the National LawMeet in New York City at the end of March.
The Fucile/Tung team from Detroit Mercy Law won the regional competition in Chicago, and after three rounds of competition in New York City, claimed second place nationally.
The National Transactional LawMeet
In today’s law schools, there is an increasing emphasis on “experiential learning,” in which students get the chance to develop practice skills in simulated practice settings. For students focused on litigation, there has long been moot court competition, but until recently there was little in the way of training for students who wanted to develop skills needed to represent clients in business transactions.
Enter the Transactional LawMeet, the brainchild of a law school leader from Drexel University. Think moot court meets the corporate transaction world and you begin to get a picture of the Transactional LawMeet.
The competing teams learn to apply their legal education in a simulated transactional environment. The team members engage in legal exercises such as interviewing a corporate client, structuring a transaction, conducting due diligence, drafting a transaction and, of course, negotiating with lawyers (in this case, fellow law school students) representing the opposing party.
“It’s a lot of work,” said Detroit Mercy School of Law professor David Joswick, who spent years in the legal transactional trenches himself. He shepherds and coaches Detroit Mercy Law students who want to participate in the Transactional LawMeet competition. “The competition focuses on the skills that every practicing lawyer needs, such as content drafting and effective negotiation of a business transaction.
Employers are looking for this kind of training. Being able to get that type of training during law school is a huge advantage,” Joswick said.
Meet the Finalists
Adam Fucile and Joseph Tung are Canadians, each hailing from the greater Toronto area. Both had a passion for business and finance prior to their time in law school. Each decided to enroll in the Canadian & American Dual J.D. Program, operated by Detroit Mercy Law in conjunction with the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. This unique program allows students to simultaneously earn Canadian and American J.D. degrees in just three years of law school.
“Having both degrees allows us to get admitted (to the Bar) on both sides of the (Detroit) River,” Fucile said recently while lunching in Detroit’s Greektown neighborhood, a stone’s throw from the Detroit Mercy Law campus. “Canadian law school classes always talk American law—it tends to set the trend,” said Tung, while enjoying his gyro at the same restaurant. “It made sense for me to come to Detroit and have a J.D. from each country,” he added.
Leaving a Legacy
The significance of their accomplishment in the National Transactional LawMeet hasn’t been lost on either Fucile or Tung. While the two 3Ls will celebrate their commencement on May 12 and will take the Bar exam thereafter, Tung hopes their showing is a cornerstone for the School of Law. “We don’t want this to be a one-time thing. We’ve been spreading the word, through our peers, how valuable our participation in LawMeet was. We think what we did at LawMeet will continue here.”
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