CWRU Mock Trial Team reaches the Semi-Finals of prestigious White Collar Invitational Tournament at Georgetown

Ault Mock Trial Team in courtroom
From left to right: Cole McKee, Bailey Zugan, Emerson McGinnis and Trey Quillin.

From Nov. 3-5, the Ault Mock Trial Team competed in the White Collar Crime Invitational Tournament hosted by Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC. This competition is invitation-only and focuses on white collar criminal cases. This was the team's first time competing at the invitational. This year’s criminal problem focused on wire fraud against crypto currency mogul Daniel Silman-Knox for allegedly defrauding his customers out of $8 billion. The problem was based on the real life trial of Sam Bankman-Fried who was coincidentally convicted on Nov. 2, 2023. 

Competitors Emerson McGinnis (‘25), Cole McKee (‘24), Trey Quillin ('24) and Bailey Zugan (‘24) litigated in three preliminary rounds of competition against teams from Harvard University, Quinnipiac University and Fordham University. Each student received a nomination for the Outstanding Advocate Award. The team advanced to the semifinal round, where they lost narrowly to eventual champions from University of Texas School of Law. The team was coached by Bradley Ouambo (LAW ‘17) and Madeline Kelley (LAW ‘22).