The 1st Annual Happy Valley Invitational

[WeAre]

The Penn State Mock Trial Association is pleased to announce that an Invitational Competition will be held at the Penn State University Park Campus on October 25th and 26th, 2008!

The basics:

- Trials will be a 2-2 format on Saturday and Sunday, held in the Thomas and Life Sciences buildings.
- Registration will be $90 per team if received prior to Sept. 22nd, $100 per team if received afterwards.
- Judging will be provided through a mix of attorneys, judges, and law school professors, and we will be pulling judges from the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York, and Harrisburg areas. As always, coaches will be a last resort.
- We currently have a block of hotel rooms reserved for teams downtown and the quoted rate is $95 a night. State College has a wide assortment of hotel accommodations (and it is an Away football weekend, so the prices are all bearable!). Parking will be free on campus.
- Transit to State College, PA is available via car (we are just a few miles from I-80, I-99, and Route 322) and plane (University Park Airport has national service).


As we continue to plan all the logistics of the tournament, we are currently trying to get a sense of how many schools would be interested in attending. If you feel that your program would be interested, please contact our Tournament Co-Director Nate Law (njl5021@psu.edu). This is not a binding commitment, but we would like to determine if the demand is present.

Thank you!

-Mike Thomas
President, The Penn State Mock Trial Association
clubs.psu.edu/mocktrial

[WeAre]

Hello Mock Trial Community!!

On behalf of the Penn State Mock Trial Association, we would like to invite you to attend the 1st Happy Valley Invitational, October 25th-26th, 2008. 

Registration will cost $90 per team, and is limited to 26 teams. In order to maintain a diverse field, we are currently accepting no more than two teams per school, however schools may place additional teams on a waitlist, and we will accept those teams if we are under our 26 team cap after September 1st. We already have a number of very competitive programs attending, so please do not hesitate to register.

Judging will be conducted by alumni attorneys and some law school students from Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law, as well as local judges and members of the Bar Association.  We do not plan on needing any coaches as judges.

Hotel accommodations are readily available in downtown State College, very close to campus.  We have reserved a block of rooms at the Days Inn for $99 a night.  The tournament is being held during an away football weekend, so there should be no problems finding hotel rooms.  Should you require any assistance in finding rooms, we would be glad to help. 

We recommend that you visit us online at www.PennStateMockTrial.com to learn more, as well as to find the registration form and a tentative schedule. More updates, including the teams attending and the tournament packet, are forthcoming. If you have any questions, or would like to register, please e-mail our tournament co-directors Matthew Lachman (mwl5054@psu.edu) and Nathan Law (njl5021).

We look forward to seeing you this fall!

[Haskins]

This has been a very well-run tournament with some awesome judges--props to Penn State. Anyone have the round 3 pairings they could share?

[WeAre]

Outstanding Trial Teams:
1st- Team 921 (The Creamery), Georgetown University (7-0-1)
2nd- Team 920 (The Blue Band), Georgetown University (7-1)
3rd- Team 928 (The Rathskeller), Yale University (6-2)
4th- Team 507 (The Corner Room), Bowling Green State University (5-3, CS 16)
5th- Team 782 (Joe Paterno), Colgate University (5-3), CS 12.5)

Outstanding Attorneys:
19- Rachel Polisner, Team 828 (The Phyrst), Penn State University

18- Carolyn Fast, Team 466 (McLanahan's), Lafayette College
18- David Dirisamer, Team 314 (Nittany Lion), Case Western Reserve University
18- Derek Hinckley, Team 782 (Joe Paterno), Colgate University
18- John Robinson, Team 928 (The Rathskeller), Yale University
18- Priyali Bhattacharya, Team 314 (Nittany Lion), Case Western Reserve University
18- Shane Rumbaugh, Team 346 (THON), Washington & Jefferson College
18- Will Dreher, Team 921 (The Creamery), Georgetown University

Outstanding Witnesses:
20- Rachel Feinstein, Team 782 (Joe Paterno), Colgate University

19- Sasha Holston, Team 690 (Old Main), Kenyon College

18- Darien Brucoli, Team 507 (The Corner Room), Bowling Green State University
18- Mire Lendel, Team 314 (Nittany Lion), Case Western Reserve University
18- Sohan Maneck, Team 921 (The Creamery), Georgetown University

17- Heather Stoller, Team 928 (The Rathskeller), Yale University
17- Matthew Rabinowitz, Team 920 (The Blue Band), Georgetown University

16- Marty Bhattachayya, Team 928 (The Rathskeller), Yale University
16- John Robinson, Team 928 (The Rathskeller), Yale University
16- Stephen Cohen, Team 783 (White Out), Colgate University

Look to AMTA's  (www.collegemocktrial.com) website and Penn State's (www.PennStateMockTrial.com) in the coming days as we will be posting the full tab summaries there.

A big thank you to everyone who attended the 1st Happy Valley Invitational. We enjoyed hosting you this weekend and we hope that you enjoyed yourselves, even if you had to put up with rioting Saturday night.

Good luck with the remainder of your seasons!!

-Mike Thomas
President, Penn State Mock Trial Association
-Matt Lachman
-Nate Law
Co-Directors, Happy Valley Invitational

[Kantessaw]

Happy Valley was an awesome tournament, especially for the first year it was run.  Judges were all top notch, and even had the real Fran Martin and McQuiggan (Penn State alums) judging our rounds.  Yale, Case Western, and Lafayette were some great competition.