Ferguson, Foster Win 2017 Sutton Barristers' Union Trial Competition

courtesy University of Arkansas School of Law

Leland Ferguson, the Hon. James Cox, the Hon. Mark Lindsay, the Hon. Rhonda K. Wood and Bryan Foster.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Third-year law students Leland Ferguson and Bryan Foster were the winners of the 2017 William H. Sutton Barristers' Union Trial Competition. The runner-up team in the final round was the team of second-year students John Ogle and Jose Ruiz.

Three distinguished Arkansas judges — the Hon. James Cox, the Hon. Mark Lindsay and the Hon. Rhonda K. Wood — presided over the final round.

Cox presides in the 12th Judicial Circuit of Arkansas (Fort Smith), Lindsay presides in the 4th Judicial Circuit (Fayetteville), and Wood is an associate justice for the Arkansas Supreme Court (Little Rock).

Held Friday, Oct. 20, in the E.J. Ball Courtroom at the University of Arkansas School of Law, the championship round concluded four weeks of competition, which featured 51 practicing attorneys who served as judges in the 32 rounds of competition. Student participants included 34 competitors and 60 witnesses or timekeeper volunteers.

Third-year students Allen Franco and Zach Musgraves, members of the school's Board of Advocates, co-chaired the competition. The competition is one of several presented by the board, a student-run organization that promotes the extra-curricular development of practical skills, in both oral and written advocacy, through practice and participation in both internal and external competition.

The Sutton Trail Competition is held annually and is named for William H. Sutton (1931-2015), a 1959 graduate of the University of Arkansas School of Law with a distinguished legal career that spanned more than five decades.