Ashworth Voted Top Trial Advocate in Law School's Trial Advocacy Championship

Akane Satoh Hawpe Gamage

Left to right: Lacy Ashworth, plaintiff with the judge, defendant with the judge and live scene from Trial Advocacy Championship.

Second-year law student Lacy Ashworth received Best Individual Trial Advocate honors in the Grand Championship round of the U of A School of Law's Trial Advocacy course. Katie Sparrow and Justin Gunderman successfully persuaded the jury to return a verdict in favor of the defendant. The trial took place on April 12 at the federal courthouse following all safety precautions against COVID-19.

The plaintiff was represented by Lacy Ashworth, Zachary Musgrove and Emily Holmes, who were also voted Best Team Advocates by their peers. Eight fellow classmates served as jurors, while other classmates, instructors and parents of the students watched from the gallery.

The grand championship round is the culmination of the law school's Trial Advocacy course. The case file the students worked on this semester was Sharon Watson v. Century Technologies, Inc., in which the plaintiff contended that she was discriminated against because of her age, whereas the defendant contended the plaintiff was terminated for poor performance and insubordination.

The top two scoring teams were pitted against each other from eight preceding regular trial rounds in which all 34 students from the class participated. Half of the separate trials were conducted via Zoom and half of them were in person in the federal court following all COVID-19 protocols.

The trial is an exhibition of the four principal trial skills — the opening statement, the direct exam, the cross exam, and the closing argument — that students learn throughout the course of the semester.