Two Penn State Law teams compete at MABLSA Convention

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Law’s Black Law Student Association was represented by two teams in separate competitions at this year’s Mid-Atlantic Black Law Student Association (MABLSA) Convention, held Feb. 15-19 in Pittsburgh. The Mid-Atlantic region encompasses law schools from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia and is part of the larger National Black Law Student Association.

The Moot Court Team was composed of Camille Hart and Ania Martinez and coached by Brianni Frazier, with Professor Michael Foreman as their faculty adviser. The team competed against ten teams from other universities in the Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition, and ended up winning Best Petitioner Brief.

“Participating in this competition gave me a boost of confidence in speaking publically,” said Hart. “Being able to do all the research for the case and seeing the whole process while being an advocate was the best opportunity.”

Penn State Law’s Mock Trial team competed in the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial, which included nine other teams from eight different schools. Tryouts for the team took place in October, with each student choosing a case and presenting a closing in front of mock trial coaches.

The final team included Kierra Brown, Shekka Drayton, Quandalasha Fambro, and Shani Walker, and it was coached by attorney Becky Thompson. Over two and a half days, they participated in six rounds of competition where they argued both sides of a malicious prosecution and defamation case. The group made it to the “final four” of the competition after facing the ultimate winner twice throughout the rounds. This was the first time that Penn State Law sent a mock trial team to the MABLSA conference.

“Becky Thompson really prepared us, and we went there ready for anything,” said Walker. “To see where we started, and where we are now, it was totally worth it.”