From Dean John Carroll of our Cumberland School of Law: 

 

The 18 best student trial advocates in the country descended on Baylor Law School June 1-5 to take part in the National Top Gun Mock Trial Competition.  Now in its second year, the National Top Gun is limited to 18 law schools and is unlike any other mock trial competition in the nation. Each invited school selects their top advocate to participate. Shannon Cornman O’Guinn was selected to represent Cumberland in this year’s competition. The mock case was a trial over a life insurance policy. A widow sued an insurance company for failing to pay a claim after her husband died falling off a cliff. The participants did not know what the case was about until 24 hours before the competition began. During that 24 hours the students assisted taking a deposition of a witness, reviewed existing depositions,  records, and photographs, and took a tour to the actual places where events in the case supposedly occurred. Shortly before each round, competitors met their witnesses for the first time. All the competitors participated in four rounds, two rounds each day, switching the side they represented, with the top four competitors advancing to a single elimination tournament. Shannon made it to the final round where she lost to a competitor from Yale.  

 

The world is better because of the competence of Cumberland lawyers.