UNTD Wins DFW Mock Trial Competition

Congratulations to the UNT Dallas COL students Fernando Leal-Calandra, Chase Miller, Anthony Lyons and Aubrey Eyrolles for their First Place win in the inaugural DFW Metroplex Mock Trial Competition! Fernando Leal-Calandra was also awarded Best Advocate for the entire competition! Coached by Profs. Tony Kolenc and Wes Moore, our UNT Dallas COL team outperformed the competition. Also, congratulations to UNT Dallas COL students Anjali Rana, Jon McCurley, Jessica Alvarez and Hamza Ahmad, along with Profs. Shmyla Alam and Brian Owsley for competing in the semi-finals round. Aubrey Eyrolles is also blazing a path, as she is a part time student – one of the first to participate in an external advocacy competition. It was clear from all of the rounds that both teams were incredibly dedicated and determined. The semi-final round was particularly tough since both of our UNT teams faced each other – talk about the talent facing the talent!

As an added bonus, the Dallas office of the national law firm of Thompson Coburn generously donated $3000 in scholarships for the top two UNT Dallas COL Advocates in this competition. We are very pleased to announce that Chase Miller and Jessica Alvarez are our top two advocates! Jessica and Chase will each receive a $1500 scholarship thanks to this generous contribution.

Many thanks go to student Feby Abraham, Competition Chair, and UNT Dallas IT Guru Mike Giallorenzo (along with his team). They took the lead and ran an incredibly smooth and exciting virtual competition. It would not have happened without their effort, patience and fortitude.

Participating in advocacy competitions with other law schools significantly enhances the law school experience and is just another example of UNT Dallas College of Law’s commitment to our mission - graduating “practice ready” attorneys.

Congratulations again to all.