IIT Chicago-Kent names its 2015 Tournament of Champions team

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law will compete in the 2015 National Board of Trial Advocacy's Tournament of Champions October 28 to 31 at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

The Tournament of Champions is one of the most prestigious law school trial competitions in the country. Each year, 16 schools from the nation's nearly 200 law schools are invited to participate. Invitations are based on the schools' three-year performance record at the National Trial Competition and the National Student Trial Advocacy Competition and in prior Tournament of Champions competitions.

This is the ninth consecutive year and the fourteenth time overall that IIT Chicago-Kent has participated in the competition. IIT Chicago-Kent won the overall Tournament of Champions and its best advocate award in 2010.

Third-year students Natalie Adeeyo, Evelyn Hernandez, Ana Montelongo and Nicolette Ward will represent the law school in this year's tournament. The team is coached by Judge David A. Erickson, retired Illinois Appellate Court justice and director of IIT Chicago-Kent's Trial Advocacy Program; attorney David Lavin; Cook County Circuit Court Judge Demetrios G. Kottaras '84; Joshua Jones '08; and Alexandra Molesky '07.

Team member Natalie Adeeyo graduated from New York University with a double major in journalism and English. Teammate Evelyn Hernandez earned a degree in history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Teammate Ana Montelongo graduated with honors from DePaul University with a degree in English and education, and earned a graduate degree in language and literacy from National Louis University. Teammate Nicolette Ward earned an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Iowa.

Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, also known as Illinois Tech, a private, technology-focused, research university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, architecture, business, design, human sciences, applied technology, and law. IIT Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy teams have won numerous individual student honors and regional and national competitions. In the most recent U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings, IIT Chicago-Kent's Trial Advocacy Program is ranked fourth in the country.