UA School of Law team headed to national finals of ABA competition

From left are Nicolette Drotos, David Wolfram, Vince Michalec and Brian Kellogg.

Two second-year students at The University of Akron School of Law are headed to the National Finals of the American Bar Association’s Student Client Counseling Competition, to be held at Baylor University Law School in Waco, Texas, April 1-2.  

The team of Nicolette Drotos and David Wolfram, both part-time students, won the regional competition, held Feb. 12-13, in Lansing, Mich. The competition topic this year is criminal law and criminal procedure. Also competing was the Akron Law team of Brian Kellogg and Vince Michalec, first year, full-time students.

Both teams were selected based on their superior performances at Akron Law’s intraschool client counseling competition on Jan. 16.

Narrowing the field

After the Akron Law teams competed in three preliminary rounds on Feb. 12 against law school teams from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia and Michigan, the field was narrowed to six teams competing head-to-head in the semifinal round.

The Kellogg/Michalec team (sixth seed) defeated the top-seeded team in the competition, while the Drotos/Wolfram team (third seed) beat the fourth-seeded team.

After the hard fought final round, judges named the Drotos/Wolfram team as regional champions and the Kellogg/Michalec team as the third place team.

“This is an exceptional accomplishment as the client counseling competition is traditionally the largest national lawyering skills competition organized by the American Bar Association,” says Dean Matthew J. Wilson, who adds that this is only Akron Law’s second year in the competition.

Preparation is key

Having had the opportunity to coach both teams, Wilson says the students “should be applauded for their diligent preparation, investment of time to practice and strong showing.”

The client counseling competition enables students to develop interviewing, analytical and problem-solving skills in the context of an initial client interview. The competition simulates a law office setting, with two student attorneys acting out a scene with one client in front of a panel of three judges. The student attorneys are evaluated on professionalism, teamwork, communication, interpersonal skills required to represent clients, issue spotting, fact-finding and other factors.

Wilson extended special thanks to the students, staff and professors that helped the teams prepare for the regional competition — assistant deans Sarah Cravens and Ivy Banks; Alisa Benedict-O’Brien, director, career planning and placement; Shannon Aupperle, program coordinator of law school centers; and Josephine Hesse, Dada London, Jennifer Woodard, James Manning, Bryan Hoffman and Chelsie Palecek.