IIT Chicago-Kent will send two teams to compete in the AAJ Student Trial Advocacy Competition's 2014 regional tournament
Two teams from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law will compete in the American Association for Justice's (AAJ) 2014 Student Trial Advocacy Competition's regional tournament. IIT Chicago-Kent will compete against 14 teams from 11 law schools located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma and Wisconsin March 20 to 23 in Chicago. The winning team will join the first-place teams from 13 other regions at the national finals April 10 to 13 in Santa Monica, California.
Students Fariz Burhanuddin '14, Molly Condon '15, Rob Kohen '14 and Laurel Martinez '15 will compete on one team. The second IIT Chicago-Kent team will comprise Michael Glink '14, Laura Henneman '15, Lucas Peters '15 and Valerie Raedy '14.
The students will argue a hypothetical medical malpractice case involving a surgeon who operates on a 75-year-old patient to remove her gallbladder although the patient's gallbladder had been removed 10 years earlier. The surgery leads to multiple complications that resulted in the patient's death.
The first team is coached by IIT Chicago-Kent alumnae Michelle Truesdale '04, Katya Manak '10 and Betsy Schulzetenberg '13 and adjunct professor Lance Northcutt. The second team is coached by Patricia Sudendorf, director of the LL.M. Program in Trial Advocacy for International Students; adjunct professor David Lavin; Joseph Carlasare '12 and Jon Neuleib '02.
Team member Fariz Burhanuddin earned his undergraduate degree in political science and international business from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Teammate Molly Condon completed her undergraduate education at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a degree in political science and a minor in philosophy. Teammate Rob Kohen completed his undergraduate education in sports management with high honors at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Teammate Laurel Martinez earned a degree in legal studies from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Team member Michael Glink received a degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Teammate Laura Henneman graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a major in journalism and a minor in political science. Teammate Lucas Peters received a degree in sociology from San Francisco State University. Teammate Valerie Raedy graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in government and music from Lawrence University and Conservatory.
The American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) is a broad-based, international coalition of attorneys, law professors, paralegals and law students.
Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. IIT Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy teams have won numerous individual student honors and regional and national competitions. The most recent U.S. News & World Report ranked IIT Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy program sixth in the country.
