TJSL’s Mock Trial Team
September 19, 2014
The TJSL Mock Trial Team is well on its way to a successful year. The team welcomed 14 extremely talented members, Sarah Brand 3L, Joshua Brisbane 2L, Precious Harrison Cobb 2L, Jeremy Garrett 2L, Thomas Gennaro 3L, Melanie Guillen 2L, Justin Hall 3L, Katie Jenkins 3L, Puneet Layal 2L, Ravi Mohan 3L, Kevin Retoriano 2L, Kaitlin Shelby 2L, Trini Tang 2L, and Leonel Fuentes Vargas, 3L. Most all of the new team members will compete in one of three competitions scheduled for this semester.
This year’s well deserving Team Captain is Kierre Coghill 3L. She said of the new team, “Our newest teammates possess creativity, charm and an ability to speak with conviction. We are looking forward to a very promising round of competitions this year.”
The team is currently preparing for three competitions this semester, which include The San Diego Defense Lawyers Competition (SDDL), The First Annual Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL), and The American Bar Association Competition (ABA).
New member Justin Hall, who will be joining Kierre Coghill, Drew Myers 3L and Melanie Guillen in the San Diego Defense Lawyers Competition this October 26-28, spoke of his experience so far, “This has been a rewarding experience! With only a month into the fall semester, I feel like I’ve unexplainably learned so much and formed a bond with my fellow teammates in such a short amount of time.” Hall went on to say, “I’m definitely looking forward to the advocacy training and competitions to come.”
In addition to the new team members, the TJSL Mock Trial team also welcomed new assistant coaches, Mark Cumba, Ryan Foreman, and Cassandra Hearn who join current coaches Lilys McCoy and Lea Fields-Bernard. The new assistant coaches bring to the team great trial experience and a love for mock trial competition as they all successfully competed on mock trial teams when they were law students.
“The chemistry between the team members and the coaches is fantastic!” said Chanel Di Blasi 3L, “One thing is true, TJSL’s Mock Trial Team this year is a force to be reckoned with.”