The Stetson Lawyer
Alumni News of Stetson University College of Law
Spring 1991
Volume XXX No. 1
ABA, ATLA Trial Teams Named
Best In The State
The Stetson American Bar Association
Mock Trial Team won first place at the
Ninth Annual Chester Bedell Memorial
Mock Trial Competition. The competition, sponsored by the Trial Lawyer's
Section of the Florida Bar, was held in
Miami at the Florida Bar Mid-Winter
Convention on January 23 and 24. Each
of the six Florida law schools entered two
teams in the competition.
The Stetson team of Amy Koltnow,
Grady Irvin, and Adam Littman defeated
the University of Miami in the semi-final
round and defeated Nova University in
the final round. The Florida Bar named
Grady Irvin "Outstanding Advocate" of
the competition. Marsha Massey, Gina
Fridella, and George Guerra also represented Stetson. Geoffrey Sessions, Kim
Lackey, and Chris Sabella participated as
witnesses. Brent Rose, an assistant state
attorney for Hillsborough County and a
Stetson alumnus, served as the coach
along with Professor Bill Eleazer.
ABA Team Member Named
Outstanding Advocate
At the Spring Inns of Court reception,
James Clark, a member of the Executive
Council of the Florida Bar's Trial Lawyers
Section, presented Stetson with a $7,000
check for competing in and winning the
Chester Bedell Competition. Mr. Clark
presented Grady Irvin with $ 1,000 as
"Outstanding Advocate." Stetson has
won this competition seven consecutive
years and has won eight of the nine times
it has been held.
The two Stetson teams also competed
in the ABA Southeast Regional Trial
Competition in Miami on February 8
through 10. As the winners of this
competition, Amy Koltnow and Grady
Irvin were then invited to compete in the
16th Annual National Trial Competition
in Houston, Texas. The national
competition was sponsored by the Texas
Young Lawyers Association, the
The 199 J ATLA Trial Team. From left to right, top: Professor Charles Way good, Coach; Tom
Vecchio; JeffGoodis. Bottom: Suzanne Taylor and Lisa Kelley.
American College of Trial Lawyers, and
the ABA Sections on Insurance and Tort
Practice and Litigation. The Stetson
team advanced to the quarter final round
before succumbing to first place
University of Texas.
ATLA Team Wins State
Competition
On April 7 at the Dade County
Courthouse in Miami, Lisa Kelley and
Jeffrey Goodis, advocates, and Suzanne
Taylor and Tom Vecchio, witnesses, won
the Seventh Annual Intrastate Mock
Trial Competition sponsored by the
Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers (AFTL)
and the Association of Trial Lawyers of
America (ATLA). Stetson has won this
competition six out of seven years.
According to the judges, Lisa Kelley
and Jeffrey Goodis defeated the previously
undefeated University of Florida's "B
Team" by a near-perfect performance.
Stetson achieved the highest score ever
recorded in this competition.
Continued on page 7
InSldC... Class Action,
Continuing Legal Education,
Law Day Homecoming,
and more.
Inns of Court
Guest Speaker
The Honorable
Griffin Bell
