This weekend, the trial teams of The University of Akron School of Law continued their tradition of excellence in trial competitions by finishing second in the nation in the National Invitational Trial Tournament sponsored by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Third-year day law students Elisabeth Akers of Medina, OH, Roland DeMonte of Dennison OH, and Eric Faulkner of Clermont, FL along with second-year day law student Jennifer Guinto of Independence, OH represented UA in the National Tournament. The tournament was held here in Akron and pitted the 16 best teams in the nation against each other for the national championship. The Akron team finished second out of the top 16 law schools. This result continues Akron’s tradition of ranking in the top 16 law schools in the nation more often than any other law school.

After four victories in the preliminary rounds including competition against George Washington, Baylor, Houston, and Loyola (Los Angeles) and a semi-final round victory against South Texas, Akron faced Temple in the final round and narrowly lost a split decision resulting in a second place finish and the title of national runner-up. Additionally, this year, Akron’s NITA team is ranked number two in the nation based on an average of the results for the past three years of competition at the two national trial tournaments.

The Trial Tournament Director was Lawrence Sutter (’89), and the Akron team was coached by Chris Carino (’05), Kimberlee Kmetz (’94), and Sean Leuthold (’95).

2005 Competition Results
2004 Champion Advocacy Trial Team
2003 Champion Advocacy Trial Team