March 3, 2010

Cooley Law School Team Wins Regional Client Counseling Competition, Advances to National Competition in Waco, Texas

Thomas M. Cooley Law School students Todd Johnson (Auburn Hills campus) and Peter Mularczyk (Lansing campus) finished in first place out of 11 law school teams from across the Midwest, including two other law schools from Michigan in the 2010 American Bar Association (ABA) Law Student Division's Region 6 Client Counseling Competition. The event was held Feb. 19 and 20 at Cooley's Lansing campus. The Cooley team will travel to the Baylor University School of Law in Waco, Texas on March 19 and 20 to compete in the national competition featuring the theme of "white collar crime."

The client counseling competition simulates a law consultation in which law students, acting as attorneys, interview a person playing the role of a client, and then explain how they would proceed in the hypothetical situation. Their counseling skills are scored by a combination of practicing attorneys, mediators and others in a counseling profession. Students from ABA-approved law schools must be members of the ABA Law Student Division in order to compete.

"This is a competition about listening to the client and then providing counsel that meets the client’s objectives," said Christine Church, Cooley Professor and Assistant Dean of Programs, Planning and Assessment who helped organize the competition. "I'm very proud of Todd and Peter. Their performance demonstrates Cooley’s excellence in providing a practical legal education."

In winning the regional competition, Johnson and Mularczyk defeated teams from the Michigan State University, University of Toronto, University of Michigan Law School, the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law and Osgoode Hall Law School in Ontario, Canada. Johnson, from Michigan City, Indiana, is finishing his second year at Cooley and Mularczyk, from Hackensack, NJ, is a first-year student.

Second-year Cooley students Elisabeth Dery (Auburn Hills campus) and Nicole Coleman (Auburn Hills campus) also advanced to the semi-final round of the regional competition.

Second-year Cooley Law School student Todd Johnson (left) and first-year student Peter Mularczyk (right) won the 2010 American Bar Association Law Student Division's Region 6 Client Counseling Competition that was recently held at Cooley's Lansing campus. Johnson and Mularczyk will travel to Baylor University School of Law in Waco, Texas on March 19 and 20 to compete in the national competition.

High-Res 300dpi Image © Thomas M. Cooley Law School 2010

Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the nation. Founded in 1972, the private, non-profit law school operates J.D. programs across Michigan in Lansing, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor. Today, Cooley Law School has nearly 14,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide and also offers joint degree and master of laws programs. Cooley offers enrollment three times a year; in January, May and September. Additional information about Cooley can be found at cooley.edu.