Tenth Annual Washburn Law Journal / Moot Court Council / Trial Advocacy Awards Banquet

Photograph: Judge Carol Beier with Washburn Law faculty.
Keynote speaker Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Carol A. Beier with Washburn Law faculty.
Photograph: Students, faculty, staff, guests, and alumni at the awards banquet.
Students, faculty, staff, guests, and alumni at the awards banquet.
Photograph: John Broomes with Richard Byrd.
John Broomes (right) with Richard Byrd.
Photograph: Robin Carlson with Richard Byrd.
Robin Carlson (left) with Richard Byrd.
Photograph: Steven Crossland (left) and Judith Taylor (center) with Myrl Duncan.
Steven Crossland (left) and Judith Taylor (center) with Professor Myrl Duncan.
Photograph: Lawence Williamson (left) and Tad Layton (right) with Professor Michael Kaye.
Lawence Williamson (left) and Tad Layton (right) with Professor Michael Kaye

Washburn University School of Law held its Tenth Annual Washburn Law Journal / Moot Court Council / Trial Advocacy Awards Banquet on Thursday, April 10, 2003 at the Washburn Union. Following the keynote address by Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Carol A. Beier, scheduled for publication in volume 43 of the Washburn Law Journal, the following awards were presented.

Washburn Law Journal Presentations

The Free Society of GNIP-GNOP
GNIP-GNOP Awards honor the top Note and top Comment published in the Washburn Law Journal during the previous year. Each member of GNIP-GNOP reads the top three student Notes and the top three student Comments, submitted by the Washburn Law Journal. The members then choose the students who, in their judgment, wrote the best Note and Comment. Richard "Jack" Byrd of GNIP-GNOP presented the cash awards to the students.

For those interested in the origin of the name, GNIP-GNOP stands for one of the group’s two favorite pastimes. It spells 'Ping-Pong' in reverse! The group’s other favorite pastime is horseshoes.

John F. Kuether Awards
The Washburn Law School Faculty established its own awards for the best note and comment to provide an additional incentive and to recognize successful completion of the students' Journal experience. Each year the faculty selects student writers for the awards based on the students' ability to develop and explain an area of the law.

In 1999, the awards were renamed in memory of Professor John F. Kuether, long time faculty advisor of the Washburn Law Journal. Recipients of the Awards have their names engraved on a plaque permanently on display in the Law School.

John D. Ensley Memorial Award for Excellence in Legal Writing
Washburn Law School presents the John D. Ensley Memorial Writing Award semi-annually to the student who writes the top memo in the Washburn Law Journal writing competition. The award memorializes John D. Ensley, a 1983 graduate of Washburn Law School, whose experience on the Law Journal made him a careful practitioner of the craft of legal writing.

Moot Court Council Presentations

The Lester M. Goodell Awards
Since 1969, the Topeka firm of Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds, and Palmer has sponsored the annual Lester M. Goodell Memorial Intramural Moot Court Competition. This competition is conducted in the fall of each academic year. Initially, the Goodell Award recognized the top oralist in the intramural competition. In 1979, a second award was created to recognize the top brief writer. The name of each recipient is engraved on the Goodell trophies and plaque which are permanently on display at the law school.

Martin, Pringle, Oliver, Wallace & Bauer Awards
Since 1992, the Wichita law firm of Martin, Pringle, Oliver, Wallace & Bauer has sponsored Moot Court members to compete in the Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition held at Brooklyn Law School. The firm underwrites the expenses related to the competition and also provides scholarship awards.

The purpose of the Martin, Pringle Awards is to develop and recognize excellence in the area of appellate advocacy. Each recipient’s name is engraved on a plaque which is permanently on display at the law school.

The Order of Barristers Awards
The Order of Barristers is a national honorary organization whose purpose is the encouragement of oral advocacy and brief-writing skills through effective law school oral advocacy programs. The Order seeks to improve these skills through interscholastic sharing of ideas, information, and resources. National recognition for individuals who have excelled in advocacy and service at their respective schools is also provided by The Order. Those services of The Order are particularly important today in light of the increased concern regarding litigation competency recently expressed by leaders throughout the legal profession.

The Order originated in 1965 at the University of Texas School of Law. It became a national organization in 1970. Washburn University School of Law is a charter member of The Order. One hundred and fifty-eight Washburn students and nineteen honorary inductees have achieved The Order of Barristers distinction in the past twenty-three years.

An individual selected to The Order receives the highest honor a law student can attain for distinction in oral advocacy. Since 1973, this honor has been one of the few law school achievements that Martindale-Hubbell recognizes in its biography of lawyers.

2003 Faculty Brief Award
Each year the Moot Court faculty committee selects the top brief written by a Washburn competition team.

Trial Advocacy Presentations

Max Rowinsky Award for Outstanding Student
This award honors the late Max Rowinsky, a noted trial lawyer who practiced in the Shawnee and Johnson County Public Defenders Offices. The award is presented to the outstanding student in the current year's Trial Advocacy class.

The American Board of Trial Advocates Award
The ABOTA Award honors Dick Sangster, a 1955 graduate of Washburn Law School. Sangster served on the national board of the American Board of Trial Advocates. The award is presented to a second year law student in the current year's Trial Advocacy class who shows outstanding promise as a trial attorney.

American College of Trial Lawyers of Kansas Award
This award is given to a member of the Washburn Trial Advocacy team for an outstanding performance in an interschool Trial Advocacy competition.

International Academy of Trial Lawyers Award
This award is given to a student who excelled in Trial Advocacy class and also has the highest overall grades in Evidence and Civil Procedure classes.