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Regan Merkel and Christopher Schaefer took second place in the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) National Trial Competition
Jun 12 2009 12:00AM
 The University of Kentucky College of Law Trial Team took home national honors in the courtroom on March 28, 2009. UK's team of third-year students Regan Merkel and Christopher Schaefer took second place in the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) National Trial Competition. The competition is the most prestigious law school trial competition in the nation with more than 300 teams and 1,000 students competing on behalf of approximately 150 law schools.
In addition to the team's success as the second best trial program in the nation, Schaefer was awarded the George A. Spiegelberg Award. The Spiegelberg award is personally selected by fellows of the ACTL and given to the student who served as the best advocate in the nation.
Schaefer, of Louisville, and Merkel, of Cincinnati, Ohio, qualified for the National Trial Competition by winning their regional tournament in Lansing, Mich., on February 22. After the regional, a new criminal case problem was distributed to the students, who had less than a month to prepare both a prosecution and defense presentation of the case. The students worked extremely hard during that month and were aided by faculty adviser and coach, Professor Allison Connelly, former trial team members Justin Peterson and Katherine Paisley and fellow teammates Jen Jabroski and Preston Worley.
Schaefer and Merkel finished just shy of a national championship losing the round 7-6, the best finish UK has ever had at the National Trial Competition.
Named the best advocate in the nation, Schaefer said, "It is truly an honor to be given such a high distinction by the American College of Trial Lawyers. They represent the pinnacle of what I want to be in my career and to know that they believe I can join their ranks as a great trial lawyer is humbling indeed. I want to thank my partner, Regan, and my coach, Allison Connelly, for all of their hard work and help."
"It shows the great strength of our trial program," Merkel said. "I am honored to have competed and am especially proud to have been a part of Chris's amazing achievement."
"Not only did Chris and Regan excel on a national stage, they epitomize the excellence of the college's trial program; a program built on student dedication, sacrifice and persistence," said Connelly. "However, I'm even prouder of the way Chris and Regan represented our law school. They won and lost with great integrity, professionalism and honor. They represent the ideal every lawyer strives to achieve." |
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