Eleventh Annual Washburn Law Journal / Moot Court Council / Trial Advocacy / Family Law Quarterly Awards Banquet
Supreme Court Justice
Robert Gernon.
Washburn University School of Law held its Eleventh Annual Washburn Law Journal / Moot Court Council / Trial Advocacy / Family Law Quarterly Awards Banquet on Monday, April 19, 2004 at the Bradbury Thompson Center on the Washburn University campus. Following the keynote address by Kansas Supreme Court Justice Robert L. Gernon, scheduled for publication in volume 44 of the Washburn Law Journal, the following awards were presented.
Washburn Law Journal Presentations
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. The Hinkle Elkouri Law Firm L.L.C.of Wichita, Kansas has established a fund to help sponsor this award.
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.
Best Comment: Andrea D. Walker
Best Note: Luke R. Spellmeier
John D. Ensley Memorial Award for Excellence in Legal Writing
Washburn Law 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.
Fall 2003: Vincent M. Cox
Spring 2004: Peter B. Bieri
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 the firm Anderson & Byrd, L.L.P., presented the GNIP-GNOP cash awards to the students.
Best Comment: Lora M. Jennings
Best Note: Starla L. Borg
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.
Moot Court Council Presentations
Some Moot Court Council award recipients(left to right): Leann Cramer, Cheryl Kessler, Kevin Hancock (2003-2004 President), Judith Taylor, Brian Perkins, Professor Stephanie Mathews (faculty adviser), Jennifer Rutherford, Paul Mzembe.
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.
2003-2004 Recipients of the Goodell Awards
Top Oralist: Paul M. Mzembe
Top Brief Writer: Brian C. Perkins
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.
2003-2004 Recipients: Cheryl A. Kessler, William E. Peterson, Paul M. Mzembe
John K. Kleinheksel Prize For Excellence in Oral Advocacy
This endowed prize fund has been established through a gift to the Washburn Law School Foundation from John K. Kleinheksel. The prize is divided among the members of the Moot Court team that achieve the highest final ranking in an interschool competition.
2002-2003 Recipients: Tiffany Tant, Leann Cramer, Eric Bidwell
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.
2003-2004 Inductees: Amie L. Bauer, Leann Cramer, Jennifer M. Cross, Kevin R. Hancock, Jamie L. Karasek, William E. Peterson, Jennifer A. Rutherford, Judith A. Taylor
2004 Faculty Brief Award
Each year the Moot Court faculty committee selects the top brief written by a Washburn competition team.
2003-2004 Recipients: Amie L. Bauer, Jamie L. Karasek
Trial Advocacy award recipients (left to right): Dionna Mitchell Taylor, Paul Mzembe, Christina Waugh, John Hiatt.
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.
2003-2004 Recipient: John T. Hiatt
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.
2003-2004 Recipient: Dionna Mitchell Taylor, Paul M. Mzembe
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.
2003-2004 Recipient: Christina M. Waugh
Family Law Quarterly
The Family Law Quarterly is a scholarly journal published by the ABA Section of Family Law. It focuses on important and emerging family law issues. The Quarterly has been edited by Washburn Law students since 1992.
In addition to three "regular" issues each year, the Quarterly publishes an annual review of the changes in family law throughout the fifty states. Review of this type is a tremendous undertaking and requires soliciting reporters in each state to summarize changes in case and statutory law. When a reporter fails to deliver, the responsibility falls to the student editors. However, the effort is well worth it, as this issue is arguably the most anticipated issue that the Quarterly publishes.
As with any publication, the Quarterly is only as good as its staff. The student editors are the heart and soul of the Quarterly. It is through their hard work that the Quarterly has remained at Washburn and has become one of the most cited speciality journals in the United States.
Some of the 2003-2004 Staff: Randy Obert, Danielle Saunders, Thomas Trunnell, Chris Kellogg, David Barlow (back row); Sarah Novascone, Melissa Rausch, Michelle Chamblee, Professor Linda Elrod, Editor-in-Chief (front row).
