Harvard University’s Black Law Student Association (BLSA) Mock Trial team bested Hofstra Law School in Hempstead, NY, to win the BLSA Northeast Regional Conference Mock Trial Competition.
The Hofstra team, comprising members Paul Bromley, Diana Buchanan, team captain, John Campo and Daniel Watts, beat out 36 other teams to reach the final four, including previous champion Massachusetts Law School. The team then lost in the semi-final round to competition winner Harvard Law School. Harvard team members were David Knight, Julian Thompson, Nneka Ukpai and Dominique Winters.
The BLSA Mock Trial competition is a criminal trial, including opening statements, direct examinations, cross examinations, motions arguments and closing arguments.
The BLSA is a national organization that works to increase recruitment of and the number of African-American law students. It also encourages greater commitment to community by African-American lawyers; and, it encourages awareness of legal and non-legal issues facing the African-American community, such as institutional racism and disparate treatment of African-Americans in the judicial system.
