Woods Fuller Attorney Coaches USD Trial Team

Pictured left to right: Andy Keyes, Micayla Bamberg, Jacquelyn Bouwman (alumna coach), Isaac Bouwman (alumni coach), Madelyn Selvaggi, Brandon Raynes (Photo Courtesy: USD Knudson School of Law)

Woods Fuller Associate Jacquelyn and USD Law School Alumna coached the USD School of Law trial team at Stetson’s National Pretrial Competition in Gulfport, Florida this month.

The competition problem this year was a Sell hearing, which is based on a U.S. Supreme Court case which determined the four factors a court considers when deciding whether to involuntarily medicate a criminal defendant with the hopes of restoring them to competency to stand trial.  The fact pattern was complex and required testimony from both fact witnesses and expert witnesses.

The team consisted of four law students.  The students were required to submit a brief to the “court” ahead of the competition.  At the competition, the students engaged in a mock hearing, which consisted of an evidentiary portion where the students directed and crossed the witnesses.  Following the evidentiary portion, the students competed in the argument portion of the hearing, in which judges could interrupt the arguments to pose questions to the students.

USD’s law students had a strong showing in the preliminary rounds.  A “Best Advocate” award was given to one student in the entire competition for each of the three preliminary rounds.  USD student, Andy Keyes, Class of 2024, was awarded Best Advocate for the second preliminary round out of the fourteen teams competing.

Woods Fuller is strongly involved in the USD School of Law and believes in mentorship and serving the community as much as possible.

Read more about the USD Trial Teams.