The 2015 Florida Justice Association (FJA) Honorable E. Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition took place from November 13-15, 2015, in Orlando, Florida. The competition, which was held at the Orange County Courthouse, had teams representing each Florida law school.
Students Roxana Gonzalez, Cassandra Ward, Tayron Lopez, and Emma Berrios competed against the University of Florida and University of Miami in the preliminary rounds and demonstrated superior advocacy and professionalism, earning the praise of all the judges and jurors.
The finalist team, consisting of Katie Joyce, Angelica Rice, Maria Catala and Nataly Gutierrez, competed against Nova Southeastern University and Florida State University in the preliminary rounds. Ms. Gutierrez received one of the distinguished awards for best advocate in the competition.
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| St. Thomas Law’s 2015 Florida Justice Association Mock Trial Competition Team. From left to right
Nataly Gutierrez, Katie Joyce, Angelica Rice, Maria Catala, Tayron Lopez, Emma Berrios, Roxana Gonzalez, Cassandra Ward. |
After St. Thomas Law swept the preliminary rounds, Mrs. Catala and Ms. Gutierrez competed against Florida International University in the semifinal round. After sweeping all the ballots, Ms. Joyce and Ms. Rice advocated for St. Thomas Law against Stetson University in the final which was extremely competitive and required a tie-breaker to determine the overall winner. St. Thomas received second place. Congratulations to our trial team students.
“We are proud of our Mock Trial Team, whose dedication, skills, and work-ethic exemplify the spirit of our school,” stated law school dean Al Garcia.
The St. Thomas Law team was coached by Assistant State Attorney, Julian Catala, St. Thomas alumnus, Daniel Garza, and Faculty Advisor, Michael Mayer.
These results are a testament to superior advocacy, hard work, dedication and commitment displayed by our students, coaches, and trial program.
