Barry Trial Team finishes in the finals at Florida Bar Trial Team Competition

Orlando, Fla. – The Barry University School of Law Trial Team recently finished in the finals at the Florida Bar Chester E. Bedell Mock Trial Competition. Held in Miami Jan. 14-15, Barry’s team continued its strong performance streak, this time facing Florida’s nine other law schools before being defeated in the final round by Stetson University.

In all, 20 teams – two from each school – competed in two preliminary rounds with the top four teams advancing to the semifinal round. Advancement was based on win/loss record, judges’ votes and total number of points. Barry’s two teams, made up mostly of students who had just completed their first semester in law school, competed against second and third year students from other schools. Barry’s first team consisted of Natalie Kato (2L), Jeremy Lytle (1L), Amanda Sizemore (2L), Andrew Nickolaou (1L) and Rebeccah Fontaine (1L). These Barry Law students defeated Florida International University (FIU) in the first round before losing to the University of Florida in round two.

Barry’s second team – Kalin Bush (1L), Melissa Alfonso (1L), Nick Geraci (1L), Angela Agostino (1L) and Erin Krenn (1L) – dominated the preliminary rounds by defeating FIU and Florida A&M. Barry’s Trial Team then advanced to the semifinal round where it defeated St. Thomas. For this competition, Barry’s teams were coached by Michael Damaso of Wooten, Honeywell, Kimbrough Gibson, Doherty & Normand, P.A., and Andrew Clark of the Seminole County Public Defender’s Office.

This is the Trial Team’s second consecutive year of impressive finishes at this competition. Last year both of Barry’s team advanced to the semifinal round.