Spring Break
Future lawyers tap legal resource
By: Jessica McCann
Issue date: 2/5/07 Section: News
Texas A&M may not have a law school, but some students still get legal experience through the Legal Education Group for Future Aggie Law Students (LEGALS) in moot court and mock trial.
On Jan. 20, A&M students Samsam Jama and Jennifer Lackey were recognized by former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Regent University Dean of the School of Law Jeffrey Brauch for placing in the top 16 of 64 teams in the country at the American Collegiate Moot Court Association National Competition at Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach, Va.
"This was my partner and my first year to work together," said Jama, a senior international studies major and vice president of moot court. "In the past five or six years, LEGALS hasn't been so highly ranked or had so many qualifying teams go to higher competitions."
A&M qualified three teams to compete at the national competition, out of 14 teams who advanced from the regional tournament at Texas Tech Law School. Other A&M teams that competed at nationals included Shane Gilroy and Andrew Kerr; and Jessica Everhart and Sky Brown.
"One thing that makes us different from the other teams is that we've taught ourselves how to present in front of a court or judge, while they have coaches and sometimes hire attorneys to teach them procedures," Jama said. "We already have a reputation that gives us a new respect for training our members on our own time."
LEGALS reproduces legal proceedings through fictitious cases, and members learn real world courtroom skills. Moot court involves arguing in a Supreme Court setting, while mock trial imitates a criminal trial argued in front of a judge.
"We're following the structure and systems that are currently in place in the law books," Jama said. "The objections and motions that we use are the same ones you'd see in an actual courtroom today."
The organization is designed to instruct and prepare students, as future lawyers, in the type of logical reasoning required for law school and professional school, and LEGALS experience puts Aggie law school applicants ahead of the pack, Jama said.
On Jan. 20, A&M students Samsam Jama and Jennifer Lackey were recognized by former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Regent University Dean of the School of Law Jeffrey Brauch for placing in the top 16 of 64 teams in the country at the American Collegiate Moot Court Association National Competition at Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach, Va.
"This was my partner and my first year to work together," said Jama, a senior international studies major and vice president of moot court. "In the past five or six years, LEGALS hasn't been so highly ranked or had so many qualifying teams go to higher competitions."
A&M qualified three teams to compete at the national competition, out of 14 teams who advanced from the regional tournament at Texas Tech Law School. Other A&M teams that competed at nationals included Shane Gilroy and Andrew Kerr; and Jessica Everhart and Sky Brown.
"One thing that makes us different from the other teams is that we've taught ourselves how to present in front of a court or judge, while they have coaches and sometimes hire attorneys to teach them procedures," Jama said. "We already have a reputation that gives us a new respect for training our members on our own time."
LEGALS reproduces legal proceedings through fictitious cases, and members learn real world courtroom skills. Moot court involves arguing in a Supreme Court setting, while mock trial imitates a criminal trial argued in front of a judge.
"We're following the structure and systems that are currently in place in the law books," Jama said. "The objections and motions that we use are the same ones you'd see in an actual courtroom today."
The organization is designed to instruct and prepare students, as future lawyers, in the type of logical reasoning required for law school and professional school, and LEGALS experience puts Aggie law school applicants ahead of the pack, Jama said.
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