Students Nat Carney (left) and Brett Gannon came within a hair’s breadth of winning the 2020 National Criminal Procedure Tournament November 7-8, hosted remotely at the University of San Diego School of Law.
The students competed against 30 teams from around the country and argued eight times, losing only in the final argument to a team from Fordham University School of Law.
“My students were magnificent. They were poised, smart, and articulate,” said the students’ coach, Professor Robert Bloom ’71.
Acknowledging that such an achievement takes a village’s support, Bloom extended thanks to those who helped bench and prepare the team. They included Professors Sharon Beckman, Frank Herrmann, SJ, Steven Koh, Kent Greenfield, Rosemary Daly ’87, Mark Brodin, and Kari Hong. Last year’s team, Eliza Walker and Anton Tikhomirov, chose and benched Carney and Gannon, who received further assists from Nickolas Matteson ’13 and attorney Reyna Ramirez.
“Not only were Brett and Nat great advocates, they were wonderful representatives of our school,” Bloom added. “They were the first to congratulate their opponents and showed great class throughout the competition. I am so proud of their hard work and their significant accomplishment.”