The Stetson Lawyer
Alumni News of Stetson University College of Law
Spring 1990
Volume XXIX No. 1
Stetson Mock Trial Team Continues To Win
Stetson College of Law's student trial
team continues to win each competition it
enters. Stetson won the National Invitational
Trial Competition "Tournament of Champions," defeating a team from Wake Forest
Univetsity. Twelve law schools were selected
to compete in the November 15-18, 1989
event at the University of Akron, in Ohio.
To be invited, a school must have been
identified as one of the best trial advocacy
programs in the nation, based upon
consistent outstanding perfotmance at
nationally sponsored law school trial
competitions. Stetson teams won the 1989
American Bar Association's National Trial
Competition, placed second in 1988, and
won the regional competition in 1987.
The team consisted of Marie DeMarco,
Jennifer Eden, and Douglas Noah. Adjunct
Professor Fred Schaub coached the three
students. Stetson defeated a team from
Texas Tech University in the semifinals.
Experienced trial lawyets from throughout
the United States volunteered to judge the
three-day event. Clyde Wilson, Jt. of
Sarasota, Gene R Cipriano of Miami, and
Beth Steenan of Miami Beach represented
Florida. The American College of Trial
Lawyers, Ohio Chapter, and the University
of Akron sponsored the competition.
In January, Stetson won both First and
Second Place in the Eighth Annual Chester
Bedell Memorial Mock Trial Competition,
sponsored by the Trial Lawyers Section of
the Florida Bar. The competition was held
in Otlando at the Florida Bar Mid-Winter
Convention, January 17-18, 1990.
Once again, Stetson's team of Marie
DeMarco, Jennifer Eden, and Douglas
Noah defeated the University of Miami in
the semi-final round. Stetson's team of Paul
Buckley, Kathy Tourville, and Ken Turkel
defeated the Univetsity of Florida in the
other semi-final round. Thus it was an
all-Stetson Final Round, with the team of
DeMarco, Eden, and Noah winning First
Place. Dyann Sabadosh, Marsha Massey,
George Guena, and Paul Johnston assisted
as witnesses. The Honorable Gilbert S.
Goshorn, Jr., of the Fifth District Court of
Appeal presided over the final round.
Florida Bar President Stephen N. Zack
presented the First Place Trophy to Stetson
and individual plaques to the First and
Second Place student team members at an
awatd ceremony. He also presented Marie
Chester Bedell Memorial Mock Trial Competition First and Second Place Winners. From Left
to Right: Jennifer Eden, DougNoah, Marie De Marco, Paul Buckley, Kathy Tourville, and Ken
Turkel.
DeMarco with a plaque as "Outstanding
Advocate," along with a check for $1,000.
The Florida Bar will also present Stetson
with a check for $5,000 from the Trial
Lawyers Section for winning the
competition.
The following week, Stetson won the
Southeast Regional ABA Mock Trial
Competition, hosted by the University of
Alabama School of Law, in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama. Both Stetson teams were
undefeated in the tournament, the only
teams to do so. The DeMarco, Eden, and
Noah team defeated teams from Mercer
University, Cumberland University, The
Univetsity of Miami, and Georgia State
University. The Tourville and Turkel team
defeated teams from the University of
Florida, the University of Alabama, the
Univetsity of Miami, and Cumberland
University.
This year will be the sixth time Stetson
has represented the Southeast region in the
National Finals. This is the first time that
Stetson will have both teams in the
National Finals. HI
Stetson Earns Top
Marks On Bar Exam
In July, 1989. Stetson Univetsity College
of Law outpaced all other Florida law
schools in the percentage of graduates who
passed the exam on their first try, followed
closely by Florida State University and the
University of Florida.
Stetson earned top honors with 89 of 97
exam-takers passing the examination,
91.75 percent. A year ago July, 88.46
percent of Stetson's graduates passed the
Bat exam. Stetson's overall percentage rate
for the last 12 exams is 90.29 percent,
ranking the school number one in the state.
Dean Bruce R. Jacob indicated that any
number of factots could have contributed
to the school's success, but said Stetson's
small enrollment and its tradition of
expecting a strong work ethic from its
students played a role. Stetson currently has
an enrollment of about 600 students. j\I/K
