2008 Nathan Baker Mock Trial Competition

Please join the Rutgers Moot Court Board in congratulating the 2008
Nathan Baker Trial Competition award and prize winners.

The competition concluded on Monday, November 11th, with the final round of
arguments and the announcement of the winning team and other awards.
Congratulations to the winners:

Winning Team: Melissa Wangenheim & David Gold
Runners-Up: Sandra Prisco & John Prisco
Best Brief Awards: Ruth Laryea & Steven Gray
Best Oralist: Frank Catalina

Both the first and second place teams will represent Rutgers in the
regional rounds of the National Mock Trial Competition in Philadelphia in
February.

The Board also extends a special thanks to the following staff members and
members of the legal community who participated in judging the final round
of the competition:

Honorable Susan D. Wigenton, U.S.D.J. - who presided as the Judge
Gerald H. Baker - Juror
Dean Stuart Deutsch - Juror
Christopher Karounos - Juror
Judy Russell - Juror

Download the 2008 trial packet here

Download the Trial Skills Workshop Handout

Background on the Competition

The Nathan Baker Mock Trial Competition, held each year in the fall, is named after an outstanding New Jersey trial lawyer, Nathan Baker. After graduation from New York University School of Law, Nathan Baker opened up an office in Hoboken, New Jersey. At the outset, Mr. Baker represented the immigrant families who worked as longshoremen, seamen and industrial workers in New Jersey and New York. In later years, he provided legal counsel to the first-generation sons and daughters who continued to live in the area.

Nathan Baker was nationally renowned expert in admiralty law and a leading advocate for the rights of seamen and longshoremen. In New Jersey, he was recognized for his skill in trial advocacy and participated in many important court cases that expanded the legal rights of accident victims, such as Henningsen (products liability), Gluckoff (wrongful death), Ellis (proximate cause), O'Brien (comparative negligence) and Snyder (premises liability).

In 1982, Yale Law School established the Nathan Baker Professorship of Law to support the teaching of trial advocacy and evidence. In 2000, Rutgers School of Law-Newark dedicated the Baker Trial Courtroom at Rutgers Law School - Newark through his generous gift. Each fall, the Moot Court Board administers the Nathan Baker Mock Trial Competition, which is open to all second and third year law students. The experience affords such students the opportunity to improve litigation and advocacy skills while obtaining feedback from judges and attorneys.

The winners of the Nathan Baker Mock Trial Competition will go on to represent Rutgers School of Law-Newark in the National Mock Trial Competition.

Comments? Questions? Please e-mail us.