Spring proved to be successful for Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law competition teams who impressed in 11 regional, national and international competitions from Southern California to Great Britain.

“As always, I could not be more proud of our teams,” said Fowler School of Law Professor Nancy Schultz. “Our students continue to excel not only in their lawyering skills, but also in delivering the highest level of civility and professionalism.”

In February, Fowler teams competed in the National Juvenile Law Moot Court Competition, the National Trial Competition regional, the American Bar Association (ABA) Negotiation Competition Finals, the ABA Client Counseling Competition regional, and the Bankruptcy LawMeet.

At the National Trial Competition regional in San Diego, two teams—one comprised of Dalia Wahab
(JD ‘15)
, Jamie Murdock
(JD ‘15)
and Alex Koehler
(JD ‘16)
, and the other of Julia Pavel
(JD ‘16)
and Elise Levy
(JD ’16)
—advanced to quarterfinals led by alumnus and adjunct faculty member Andy Bugman.

The same weekend in Houston, Texas, Nikki Micheil
(JD ‘15)
and Shane Micheil
(JD ‘15)
were tied with Berkeley going into the semifinals at the ABA Negotiation Competition National Finals and were recognized for their excellent teamwork, negotiation skills and knowledge of the facts.

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Lisa Poladian and Charles Henninger at the National Juvenile Law Moot Court in Whittier, California



At the National Juvenile Law Moot Court Competition in Whittier, California, two teams—Lisa Poladian
(JD ‘15)
and Nick Lynes
(JD ‘16)
on the first team, and Charles Henninger
(JD ’16)
and Jeremy Talcott
(JD ‘16)
on the second—competed for titles under the direction of alumnus and adjunct faculty member Brad Schoenleben. After preliminary rounds on the first day, Poladian and Lynes moved to the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinal round on day two. A special congratulation goes to Poladian, who was recognized as fifth-place advocate on day one and third-place advocate on day two, and Henninger, who was recognized as eighth-place advocate in the first day of competition.

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Clark Selters and Jatin Patel at the American Bar Association Client Counseling Competition in Honolulu, Hawaii



Teams Seth Bowen
(JD ‘15)
and Arthur Arutyunyants
(JD ‘15)
, and Clark Selters
(JD ‘15)
and Jatin Patel
(JD ‘16)
led Fowler School of Law to its own distinctive honor as the only school to get both teams to the semifinal round at the regional ABA Client Counseling Competition in Honolulu, Hawaii. Selters and Patel, who lost in a less than unanimous vote in the final round, elicited a rare “A++” rating from one judge, while Arutyunyants and Bowen were praised for having delivered one of the best client counseling performances one judge had ever seen.

At the ABA Arbitration Competition in Chicago, Illinois, Shane Micheil
(JD ‘15)
, Jamie Murdock
(JD ’15)
, Alex Koehler
(JD ’16)
and Allie Andreen
(JD ’15)
placed ninth of 40 teams in the national finals. The Fowler team won every judge ballot in the preliminary rounds.

In March, Seth Bowen
(JD ‘15)
, Matt Pellegrini
(JD ‘15)
and Ali Razavi
(JD ‘15)
comprised the only team at the International Law School Mediation Tournament competition to win all of the judges’ ballots in the preliminary rounds in London, England. Bowen, Pellegrini and Razavi finished fourth in the advocacy portion and sixth in the mediation portion of the competition. Pellegrini and Razavi were also awarded a seventh-place individual award for their performance as advocate and client.

At the South Texas Mock Trial Challenge, the largest invitational trial competition in the United States, Fowler’s team of Lorin Herzfeldt
(JD ’16)
, Jessica Roundy
(JD ’16)
, Marcus Sweetser
(JD ’16)
and Jared Berman
(JD ’15)
went undefeated in the preliminary rounds and advance to the octofinals. This is the third year in a row that Fowler School of Law has made it to the octofinal round.

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Arthur Arutyunyants and Seth Bowen prepare for the International Mediation Competition in Des Moines, Iowa.



Also in March, two teams from Chapman— the first team, Arthur Arutyunyants, Seth Bowen and Jeremy Talcott, and the second team, Matt Cox
(JD ‘15)
, Jamie Murdock
(JD ’15)
and Jeff Farano
(JD ‘16)
—competed for international titles in the International Law School Mediation Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. Cox, Murdock and Farano placed sixth of 28 teams from across the globe in mediation, while Arutyunyants, Bowen and Talcott placed ninth in advocacy.

The Fowler competitors also provided a mediation demonstration during training for teams with little or no competition experience or mediation training. Fowler Law Professor Nancy Schultz said that she received several compliments from competing schools on how intelligent and articulate the Fowler School of Law teams’ performances were.

“This is the kind of reaction that makes me especially proud and convinced that our students are learning all the skills they need to become great lawyers,” she said.

Last month, Fowler teams traveled to the national Show Me Challenge in Kansas City and the Traynor Moot Court competition in San Francisco. At the Show Me Challenge, a Fowler team—Jared Berman
(JD ‘15)
, Seth Bowen
(JD ‘15)
and Shane Melzer
(JD ‘15)
—competed against 15 law schools from around the country to place fifth.

Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law offers three competition boards where students participate in simulated court situations, both in-house and with schools at the regional and national level. Follow the link to learn more about
lawyering skills competition teams
.