Baylor Law School To Host Regional Client Counseling Contest

by Alan Hunt

Baylor Law School will welcome law students from Texas, Colorado and Wyoming on Saturday, Feb. 22, for the annual regional tournament of the American Bar Association's Client Counseling Competition. The winning team from the competition will advance to the national finals next month in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Leah W. Jackson, professor of law and associate law dean, said the competition simulates a law office consultation in which law students, acting as lawyers, are presented with a typical client matter. "The new client, who is a non-law student playing a role based upon a script, will be interviewed by two or three teams, with each team consisting of two law students," she said. They counsel their "client" on how they would proceed further in the hypothetical situation. The panel of judges will be two lawyers and one counselor. "It is their job to decide which team did the best job in light of the standards for judging the competition," she said.
Jackson said 11 teams from seven law schools in the three-state area will participate in the contest. Preliminary rounds will be held Saturday at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., and the top two teams will compete in the finals scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
Each year, approximately 100 U.S. and Canadian schools participate in regional competitions held at various law schools around the country, and the 12 successful teams are invited to the national finals of the competition. Last year's national tournament was held at Baylor Law School's new "home" - the Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center.
For more information, contact Jackson at 710-4822.