We Are the Champions

STUDENT LAW TEAM WINS BIG 

Only 12 teams get to compete at the national rounds of the Transactional LawMeet. In 2017, two of those teams were from USD’s School of Law. The program officially began in the 2015-16 academic year. This is the first year that the university sent two teams to the regional competitions.

In Feb. 2017, two transactional law teams — comprised of law students Brandon Rebboah, Nina Sugar-Carlsgaard and Ryan Kelly on the third-year team and law students Rachel Ross, Jason Miller and Brandon Shaw on the second-year team — competed in the regional rounds of the eighth annual Transactional LawMeet. Both teams won their competitions and advanced to the national rounds, held on March 31 in New York; the third-year team was named national champion on the seller side.

“I am so thankful for Dean Ferruolo’s guidance; we couldn’t have done it without his mentorship,” says Rebboah. “I’m equally proud of the second-year team for also making the National LawMeet.”

Ferruolo was faculty advisor to both teams. At the Los Angeles regional competition, the second-year team was coached by Julie Robinson, of counsel in the San Diego office of Cooley LLP. Dean Ferruolo coached the third-year team at the Denver regional competition and accompanied both teams to the national rounds.

The program was organized to offer students a “moot courtlike” experience in a transactional setting, giving law students hands-on experience in developing and honing transactional lawyering skills. The National Transactional LawMeet gives students an opportunity to compete against other schools in the realm of “dealmaking,” presenting them with essential challenges in transactional problem solving — the very type that corporate attorneys or in-house counsel tackle on a daily basis.

“We are so proud of our students’ successes,” says Frank Partnoy, George E. Barrett Professor of Law and Finance. “Our law school has a sophisticated, cutting-edge business law program, and our students and graduates are prepared to compete at the highest levels, nationally and internationally.” — Katie Pinto