Northwestern Law trial team wins Summit Cup

• Link to: Northwestern Now Story

A team from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law’s Bartlit Center for Trial Advocacy won the Summit Cup championship, held at the University of Denver Oct. 3-5.

The University of Denver’s Center for Advocacy hosted the leading teams from around the country. The Northwestern Law team of Cindy Bi (JD’20), Michael Trucco (JD’20), Kristen Stoicescu (JD’20) and Maddy Yzurdiaga (JD’21) went undefeated in an invitational field comprising the top 12 trial teams in the United States. 

In the four preliminary rounds of competition, Northwestern defeated teams from John Marshall Law School, Cumberland Law School, Georgetown University Law Center and American University, before prevailing in the championship round against Catholic University. In all, the Northwestern team won 16 out of 19 possible judges’ ballots.

“Cindy, Mike, Kristen and Maddy were simply terrific,” said head coach Rick Levin of Levin, Riback, Adelman & Flangel. “They put their hearts into their work every step of the way.”

Said Steven Lubet, the Williams Memorial Professor of Law at Northwestern, director of the Bartlit Center and the team’s advisor: “This is the second time in three years our team has won the Summit Cup. Rick Levin does a remarkable job of teaching our young people how to become thoughtful, ethical, well-prepared and ultimately successful trial advocates.”