Back Row (L-R): AUSA Stan Boone, Jeremiah Paul, Kendall Reynolds, Satnam Brar, Chester Walls, and Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Conklin.
Front Row (L-R): U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila O'Berto, Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Steven Kane, and Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Steven Vartabedian (retired).
Weeks of classroom preparation at San Joaquin College of Law and days of oral arguments in the 2011 George A. Hopper Moot Court Competition culminated July 8th with the announcement of the winners. First, however, competitors and audience members were treated to overall assessments by three of the judges. The Hon. Sheila O’Berto credited the competitors for their ability to recover after having their arguments interrupted by onslaughts of questions and hypotheticals posed by the panel. The Hon. Steven Kane noted that some competitors seemed nervous, but he was impressed by their eye contact, command of law, and ability to “pound the point home.” The Hon. Steven Vartabedian took the praise a step further, saying he believed the students had natural speaking and thought organization skills, but they had been honed to a critical level under the instruction of the Hon. Jonathan Conklin and AUSA Stan Boone.
SJCL extends special thanks to others who also judged the competition, including the Hon. Brian Arax, Justin Atkinson, Deborah Boyett, Henry Carbajal, Chrystine Carvalho, Ken Carver, Dan Casas, Hon. Adolfo Corona, Mark Cullers, Mia Giacomazzi, Gregory Gillett, Hon. Jeffrey Hamilton, Shannon Harding, Katherine Hart, Hon. Jim Kelley, Stefanie Krause-Cota, Louis Larres, Hon. W. Richard Lee, Jeremy Lusk, Hon. Rosemary McGuire, Kathleen McKenna, Yasin Mohammad, Jo Anne Morales, Carol Moses, Warren Paboojian, Sally Perring, Jeffrey G. Purvis, Kimberly Raven, Sharlene Roberts, Kevin Rooney, Roberta Rowe, Edwin Sasaki, Kathy Servatius, Hon. Mark Snauffer, Philip Tavlian, Robert Uriarte, Ann Voris, Harry White, Melissa White, Jody Winter, and Francine Zepeda.
And the winners are:
Best Oral Advocate - Satnam Brar
Oral Advocate Finalists - Chester Walls, Jeremiah Paul, and Kendall Reynolds
Best Brief - Charles Palmer & Derek Walzberg
Best Brief Finalists - William Buttry & Daren Stemwedel, Andrew Kucera & Josh Kruger, and Kendall Reynolds & Tomas Kunder
Best Oral Advocate Semi –finalists - Michael Brady, Travis Ishikawa, Michael Shaddix and Rajinder Sungu