Gaining Experience

Carrier pigeons are one of the oldest forms of long-distance communication, used as far back as 3000 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and more recently, to carry messages across enemy lines in World Wars I and II.

As reliable as the species’ millennia-long track record may be, there was never a complete certainty about how a particular pigeon would fare until it was set free, pinning to it the correspondence and hoping it wouldn’t be eaten alive after departure.

Washburn Law has a century-long history educating students in the classroom, sharing instruction and wisdom in hopes aspiring lawyers carry the messages with them to their intended career destinations. Yet, the training that occurs on campus can’t truly be tested until students spread their wings in the real world.

The best way to test students’ abilities, before they fly the coop, is through mock trials. One place Washburn Law provides this opportunity is the annual Region 11 national trial competition, which was Feb. 7-9 in Oklahoma City.

“The first time you do a trial shouldn’t be while you’re in a real trial,” said LeTiffany Obozele, ’12, a trial team coach, Washburn Law adjunct instructor, and staff attorney for the Kansas National Education Association. “This gives you a chance to feel the competition and get experience, but nobody’s going to jail or has their life at stake.”

Washburn Law had two of the 28 teams in the competition. Third-year law student Emma Morrissey, BCJ ’22, and second-year student Caleb Haselhuhn teamed up to go 2-1 in three preliminary rounds. Third-year students Blake Ruiz and Brittni Winter went 1-2. Both teams entered the third preliminary round with a shot at making the round of eight semifinals, but ultimately, came up short.

“The hope is always to advance, and some years they do, but I care more about all the hard work they put in,” Obozele said. “I celebrate everyone, whether they advance or not, for getting there and showing up for battle. Both teams were very competitive and passionate and came
close to advancing.”

The annual competition alternates between a civil case and criminal case. This year was a civil case. Last year, Morrissey, Ruiz, and Winter tried criminal cases. Next year, Haselhuhn will return to try a criminal case, along with Grant Fogle and Fischer Kent, first-year students who got a first-hand look at the competition by playing roles in the witness pool.

“This year, it was a fake scenario of a pretty tragic car accident with a dad and two young kids who hit black ice, went over the highway median, and collided into a semi-truck,” Morrissey said. “A majority of the case was determining who was at fault, the parent or the semi-truck driver. It was a very arguable issue, which made things intense. I knew nothing about commercial driver’s licenses, but now I do.”

It’s easy to see why, given the thoroughness of the training before the competition. Team members learned this year’s trial would center on trucking law in mid-December. Preparation ramped up after finals, and in January and early February, teams practiced three to four times a week, including back-to-back trials on Saturdays and Sundays, with Obozele and other alumni coaches, including Hon. Bill Ossman, ’77, Steven Karrer, ’99, and Christina Waugh, BA ’02, JD ’05.

“We have a good number of judges and attorneys helping us prepare in the practices,” Morrissey said. “They take time from their actual jobs to come in and give us feedback. It’s a lot of long weekends, and especially close to the competition, long weeknights too.”

Morrissey received this year’s Hall Trial Team Leadership award, created by Jay Hall, BA ’04, JD ’07, and Danielle Hall, BA ’06, JD ’09, two coaches for Washburn’s undergraduate mock trial team, and Washburn Law’s ABA employment law trial team and voir dire competition to recognize a student who exhibits leadership and teamwork above self. After two years on the team, Morrissey graduated in May and will carry her experience trying both a criminal and civil case into her role as a Shawnee County assistant public defender.

“So much of being involved in trial team helped me realize I wanted to do trial work,” Morrissey said. “We worked with a lot of coaches who have either prosecution or criminal defense experience. I enjoyed listening to stories about how they litigated different cases. It’s good perspective and a fantastic experience to have a fake environment to get comfortable talking in front of people in court regularly.”

Obozele said as proud as she was of Morrissey, Haselhuhn, Ruiz, and Winter’s performance and work ethic, it’s who they are outside the courtroom that proved each team member was a good fit for the team.

“These students work really hard, give us a month and a half of their lives putting in extra practice,” Obozele said. “When we get there, this trip is for them. They earned it. So, after the competition, Emma was super excited about a pigeon museum, and we were like, ‘You know what, no problem.’”

In addition to driving home with valuable experience, several members of Washburn Law’s 10-person traveling party returned with shirts from the American Pigeon Museum gift shop, reminding them to “Keep it Coo.”

Birds of a feather flock together.

“That’s what I love about these students,” Obozele said.

“They’re hard workers, but then also they found joy in a pigeon museum. I’m proud of who we’re putting into the attorney world: good, ethical hard workers. That’s what keeps me coming back. I’m really proud of what we put into the competition and what the students put in.”