Baylor Law Claims 'Three-In-A-Row' In D.C.; Excels In Client Counseling

by Alan Hunt

Baylor University law students celebrated two more impressive performances in major contests in February, including a second moot court competition in Washington, D.C., and a client counseling contest in Dallas.
The Baylor Moot Court Team faced competition from 33 teams representing 22 law schools in the regional contest of the American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition, held Feb. 28-29 in Washington, D.C.
Baylor's performance netted the team a Regional Champion title for the third consecutive year, while Paul Bailiff was named third best advocate at the regional competition. Bailiff will team up with fellow law students, Persis Mehta and Casey Cox, as they compete against other regional champions for the national title April 1-3 in Chicago.
"Our other team lost a heartbreaker in the semi-finals by a margin of .005 points," said Larry Bates, professor of law and faculty coach. The team members were Erin Huber, Robert Little and Jessica Russell. Bates praised both teams on their "outstanding performances" in the contest.
Bates said the imaginary case argued by the students before the court in the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition involved the government's removal of an art display from a downtown plaza.
"The issues focused on whether the plaza was a public forum and whether the government was justified, in light of the First Amendment protection of speech, in removing the display," Bates said.
The students' success story in Washington, D.C., follows a previous Baylor victory in that city. On Feb. 21-22, Baylor teams placed first and third among 27 teams from law schools around the country in a National First Amendment Moot Court Competition held in D.C.
In the client counseling contest held Feb. 21 in Dallas, Baylor Law School broke into the final round of the American Bar Association Regional Client Counseling Competition and placed second in the competition. Patricia Wilson, professor of law and faculty coach, praised the performances of second-place team members Kim Parke and Jon Harrison, as well as the team of C.J. Henderson and Traylor Rains.
"They did an outstanding job and represented Baylor well," Wilson said. "I am proud of both teams and their student coaches, Patrick Ballantyne and Kristin Langwell. They practiced many hours to develop the skills necessary for their success."
A total of 12 teams from law schools throughout Texas and Colorado competed in the contest.