IIT Chicago-Kent Selects Its 2014 National Ethics Trial Competition Team

Matthew McCarter, Joshua Rehak, Alison Schaffer and Michael Zhang, second-year students at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, will represent the law school at the National Ethics Trial Competition championship March 20 to 22 at the Robert T. Matsui Federal Courthouse in Sacramento, Calif. IIT Chicago-Kent won the tournament in 2008 and 2012.

The students will argue Peters v. Denver, a professional responsibility case. Team member Matthew McCarter earned his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Iowa. Teammate Joshua Rehak graduated magna cum laude from Lewis University with a degree in political science. Teammate Alison Schaffer graduated from Northwestern University with a double major in communications studies and legal studies. Schaffer earned a master's in education from Hunter College. Teammate Michael Zhang graduated from Calgary University with a degree in political science. The team is coached by Wendy J. Muchman, Lindsay Gephardt '12 and Rachael Sinnen '11.

The National Ethics Trial Competition was established in 2006 by the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, to promote ethical and civility awareness through the mock trial competition format. The tournament is co-sponsored by the law school, alumnus Robert A. Buccola, the ABA Section of Litigation, the Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court, and the Sacramento Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. IIT Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy teams have won numerous individual student honors and regional and national competitions. The most recent U.S. News & World Report ranked IIT Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy program sixth in the country.