"We are extremely proud of our team’s regional win. Given their hard work throughout the competition, it is an honor that they richly deserve," said Professor William Aceves who coached the team along with Professor Roberta Thyfault. "Our students faced some tough competition, particularly in the final rounds, which makes their accomplishments even more rewarding."

California Western’s team also won the first place prize for Best Memorial (brief) for the Southwest Region, and second-year student Micah Bailey took home a fourth place trophy for Best Oralist in the competition.  Ricardo Arias, Terri Bianchi, Kelly Ranasinghe, and Melissa Robbins round out California Western’s five-member team. 

"Our team used their knowledge of the law and advocacy skills to simply out-perform the competition," Thyfault said. "Now they are putting in the time necessary to be ready to compete and win at the international level."

California Western’s team defeated Arizona State University College of Law in the semi-final and Loyola Law School in the final round. Other law schools competing in the regional competition included UCLA, USC, Hawaii, Arizona, and Ohio State University.

The Philip C. Jessup Competition is the world's largest and most prestigious international law advocacy competition, involving approximately 1,500 students from more than 300 law schools in nearly 50 nations. Law students around the world spend an entire year preparing to compete in the Jessup by auditioning and selecting team members, researching the chosen international law topic, and developing oral and written advocacy skills.

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