MCSOL receives second consecutive win at the fall 2007 Mississippi Trial Competition.

Mississippi College School of Law (MCSOL) emerged victorious from the fall 2007 Mississippi Trial Competition for the second consecutive year. Sponsored by the University of Mississippi School of Law Moot Court Board, the competition took place November 15th and 16th, 2007, in Oxford, Mississippi. Four teams represented MCSOL at the competition; comprised of student attorneys William Ashley and Buddy Handey, Lauren Lundy and Stephen Clay, Chris Moore and Andrew Speir, and Amy Strickland and Isaiah Castilla. Providing tremendous assistance to these teams were their student witnesses Kristina Erin Barton, Brandon Dixon, Mary Gurz, Jonathan Hyatt, Woody Ketcham, Adrienne Maloney, Ben Tremonte and Katie Lester Trundt. The teams competed in two Thursday trials before the finalists were announced Thursday evening. The top scoring teams from MCSOL and Ole' Miss competed in the final trial Friday.

MCSOL student attorneys Andrew Speir and Chris Moore, together with their student witnesses Brandon Dixon and Adrienne Maloney, defeated Ole' Miss in Friday's final trial. Their win handed MCSOL its second consecutive championship in the Mississippi Trial Competition.

"The entire competition was a wonderful experience," Speir said. "I felt that we, as a team, were well prepared and poised to win. Eric (Brown) and Chelsea (Brannon) were wonderful coaches, and Chris and I were really fortunate to have Adrienne and Brandon as witnesses. And getting to argue in front of Judge (Sharion) Aycock was an honor. I am just extremely proud of our performance."

This fall's Mississippi Trial Competition expanded to closely resemble the annual Mississippi Moot Court Championship between the MCSOL and Ole' Miss Moot Court Boards. Under an agreement between the Boards, Ole' Miss will annually sponsor the Mississippi Trial Competition and MCSOL will annually sponsor the Mississippi Moot Court Championship. MCSOL Director of Advocacy and Moot Court Board Advisor Victoria Lowery believes this agreement will benefit both law school's Boards and their members.

"The time and resources required to successfully sponsor one of these competitions are very demanding, so it helps both Boards to only have to sponsor one competition each year," Lowery said. "Ole' Miss did a great job sponsoring the trial competition and made things very easy on us as participants. I hope we can do the same with this year's Mississippi Moot Court Championship."

While a definitive date has not yet been determined, the annual Mississippi Moot Court Championship will take place sometime in the spring of 2008 in Jackson, Mississippi.

Judge Sharion Aycock of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi judged the Mississippi Trial Competition's final trial. MCSOL third-year students Eric Brown and Chelsea Brannon, who won the inaugural Mississippi Trial Competition last spring, coached MSCOL's teams.