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UA Law takes first place in client counseling contest
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: March 16, 2016
A call comes in from a potential client seeking legal assistance because police arrested him at his home. The administrative assistant schedules an appointment and sends an email to let the two attorneys in the office know when the client will arrive and the general reason for the visit.
Now it’s up to the lawyers to get as much information as possible during the initial consultation, while developing a rapport with the client and figuring out how best to handle the case.
That was just one of three fictional scenarios law students from five states, including The University of Akron School of Law found themselves tackling during the preliminary rounds of the 2015-2016 American Bar Association Law Student Division Regional Client Counseling Competition.
This year’s competition topic entailed criminal law and criminal procedure.
Held Feb. 12 through 13 at Western Michigan Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, two teams from Akron Law competed in three preliminary rounds against teams from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia and Michigan.
The initial portion of the competition took place on Feb. 12, with a panel of three people, including attorneys and non-attorneys judging each round. The semi-final and final rounds got underway on Feb. 13.
Nicolette Drotos and David Wolfram, both part-time second-year students at Akron Law, won the regional competition and first-year Akron Law students, Brian Kellogg and Vincent James Michalec, took third place.
Kellogg and Michalec (sixth seed) defeated the top-seeded team from Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law, while Drotos/Wolfram (third seed) beat the fourth-seeded team from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Both Akron teams were chosen based on their performances at Akron Law’s intraschool client counseling competition on Jan. 16.
“Nicolette and I entered the competition last year and had a lot of fun doing it,” said Elyria native Wolfram. “We didn’t win but back then we did not have that much law school under our belts. This year we decided to try again. Even though we put in more time than last year, we did not expect to be the regional champs.”
“As soon as the holidays were over we started meeting regularly to practice for the intraschool competition,” said Drotos. “We still had our materials from last year’s event so we based some of our practice on those notes.”
In the case of Kellogg and Michalec, the two said they thought the competition would be interesting, but they did not anticipate being chosen to go to the regionals.
“Dean Wilson spoke highly of it and it seemed like a great way to get some hands-on experience with lawyering skills and interviewing clients,” said Michalec. “I don’t think we realized how much of a time commitment it would be, but it was totally worth the time and effort.”
Michalec’s partner, Brian Kellogg, said they both brought their own unique strengths to the partnership.
“I am 42 and I have a lot of experience in the legal profession,” said Kellogg, who worked as a paralegal/investigator at the DeSanto & Kellogg Law Office in Ashland for about 10 years and served as chief bailiff under Judge John L. Good at the Ashland Municipal Court.
“Although Vincent is younger and didn’t have quite the same years of experience, his personability, energy and attention to detail helped create a well-rounded team,” said Kellogg. “We formulated a plan where he would initiate the personal interactions with the client and ask the initial questions and then I would build upon his question using my knowledge of the process.”
This is the second year that students from Akron Law have gone to the competition. Akron Law Dean Matthew J. Wilson not only serves as the coach, he is the reason the school began participating.
“I have been involved in the competition since 2004,” said Wilson. “I was a faculty advisor for it when I was associate dean at the University of Wyoming College of Law.
“The client counseling competition is traditionally the largest national lawyering skills competition organized by the American Bar Association. It allows students to develop interviewing, analytical and problem-solving skills in the context of an initial client interview,” said Wilson. “That’s why I wanted Akron Law to compete.
“Students walk into the competition with little or no advance notice of what they are dealing with,” said Wilson. “They have 45 minutes to meet with the client and establish boundaries for this potential relationship, while helping to give the client some initial guidance.”
Wilson said students get valuable feedback from the volunteer judges.
Those who compete find themselves in a simulated office setting as they “act out” a scene with a client in front of three judges. They’re evaluated on professionalism, teamwork, communication, the interpersonal skills required to represent clients, issue spotting, fact-finding and other factors.
Drotos said one of the keys was asking thorough questions. “In one scenario, a client came in saying she was fleeing from the law,” she said. “Because the client came in very nervous David and I had to ask questions in a way that made her comfortable opening up to us about the situation.”
Drotos said after learning that they had taken second place in the intraschool competition on Jan. 16, she and Wolfram met on ten different occasions to practice for the regionals.
“Some of our practice sessions were with Dean Wilson and some of them were just the two of us. Each time we spent at least two hours,” said Drotos. “Because we were going into each round with little information it was impossible to truly prepare for everything that might happen.”
Wolfram and Drotos now head to the national finals of the American Bar Association Law Student Division Client Counseling Competition, where there will be 12 regional champion teams from around the country competing. It takes place from April 1 to 2 at Baylor University Law School in Waco, Texas.
“It would be amazing if we could win something for Akron Law,” said Drotos, who one day hopes to be a judge in the Akron area.
“I want to help people and I can’t think of a better way to do that than being a judge,” Drotos said.
Wolfram said he’s considering his options. “Right now I am drawn to family and criminal law, but I’m still exploring.”