Law school arbitration team wins national championship
Matt McGowan
Issue date: 2/5/08 Section: News
One Texas Tech team won a national championship not because its members can run faster, jump higher or hit harder, but because they could present a better argument.
The arbitration team representing Tech's School of Law took first place Jan. 26 at a national arbitration competition near Tampa, Fla., which marks the school's fourth national championship title under the direction of Murray Hensley, the team's head coach and adjunct professor at the law school.
Heading into the final round of the competition and having defeated 14 other contending schools, Tech's four-student team faced a familiar opponent for the final match: Stetson University Law School, the home team and the competition's reigning champions after having defeated Tech in last year's finals.
Going into this year's finals, however, the team had a special feather in its cap, Hensley said: It held the position of the No. 1 seed.
For each arbitration match, three judges each cast one vote for the team they believe deserves the win, he said. Acquiring six votes in the competition's two preliminary matches is quite a feat, especially considering the subjective nature of the judging. Going into the finals with such a record gave the team a boost of confidence.
"As the No. 1 seated team, you feel like you've really hit the nail on the head when you're coaching the teams," Hensley said. "When all the preliminary judges like them, we must be doing something right."
Tech's arbitration team, called the National Arbitration Team, won November's regional competition in Houston, which qualified it for the National Championship at Stetson University.
This year's victory comes after approximately 40 hours of team preparation leading up to the competition, said Sherylynn Kime-Goodwin, a local assistant federal public defender who helped Hensley with this year's coaching. Additionally, team members spend countless hours preparing for the competition individually.
The arbitration team representing Tech's School of Law took first place Jan. 26 at a national arbitration competition near Tampa, Fla., which marks the school's fourth national championship title under the direction of Murray Hensley, the team's head coach and adjunct professor at the law school.
Heading into the final round of the competition and having defeated 14 other contending schools, Tech's four-student team faced a familiar opponent for the final match: Stetson University Law School, the home team and the competition's reigning champions after having defeated Tech in last year's finals.
Going into this year's finals, however, the team had a special feather in its cap, Hensley said: It held the position of the No. 1 seed.
For each arbitration match, three judges each cast one vote for the team they believe deserves the win, he said. Acquiring six votes in the competition's two preliminary matches is quite a feat, especially considering the subjective nature of the judging. Going into the finals with such a record gave the team a boost of confidence.
"As the No. 1 seated team, you feel like you've really hit the nail on the head when you're coaching the teams," Hensley said. "When all the preliminary judges like them, we must be doing something right."
Tech's arbitration team, called the National Arbitration Team, won November's regional competition in Houston, which qualified it for the National Championship at Stetson University.
This year's victory comes after approximately 40 hours of team preparation leading up to the competition, said Sherylynn Kime-Goodwin, a local assistant federal public defender who helped Hensley with this year's coaching. Additionally, team members spend countless hours preparing for the competition individually.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 6
Law Alum
posted 2/05/08 @ 12:20 PM CST
Congratulations to the competitors and Tech Law! Does this make 17 national championships for the Law school in its short history? I would really like to see an article about how well the law school has been doing in these events in the last 10 years or so. (Continued…)
beverly
posted 2/05/08 @ 12:22 PM CST
This kind of thing is awesome for Tech! Way to go!
jason
posted 2/05/08 @ 8:22 PM CST
Great news!
Jeff
posted 2/06/08 @ 9:04 PM CST
Something is definitly being done right at the law school. Just another thing on a big list of things to be proud of here at Texas Tech.
Louise
posted 2/07/08 @ 1:27 PM CST
Nice. I hope we see football and chess championships before long as well.
Frank Brown
posted 2/09/08 @ 8:53 PM CST
Nice!
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