As you may remember, the team of Tony Wise, Kelsie Carson, Kelle Redepenning, and Joshua Rau competed in and won the 9th Annual American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law regional tournament in Boston this past October. As a result, they advanced to the national tournament along with the winning teams from each of the seven other regions (New York, Washington DC, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Dallas).
Last weekend our advocates competed in the national tournament in Dallas, TX.
Coach Daniel Leister (’12) and Brian Dedez (’09) are proud to announce that after a day of trials against the top eight teams in the U.S., the University of Akron School of Law advanced to the national semifinals. In other words, out of the original field of 98 law school teams, Akron was one of only four teams from across the country remaining.
In the semifinals, we lost what we were told was a very, very close decision. What was really impressive was the fact that Akron had already faced the eventual national champion (the University of Pennsylvania) in the preliminary rounds before both teams advanced to the semis. Akron was the only team in the tournament to face both the national champion and the national runner up (Quinnipiac). We stood toe to toe with each one.
These kinds of results only happen when the students give their complete energy, effort and focus. In making the conscious choice to do so, the students were the picture-perfect representation of Akron Law: professional, diligent, ethical, and the hardest-working team in the courtroom.