Image
Students
Haub Law Trial Advocacy Team Invited to Compete at Exclusive Tournament of Champions
Students from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University’s Trial Advocacy Team were honored with an invitation to compete in the Tournament of Champions Competition hosted by UCLA School of Law on October 29-31. The Haub Law team consisted of Kathryn Facelle (3L), Michael McNally (3L), Kimberly Abrahall (2L), and Liam Rattigan (2L) and was coached by alumni AJ Muller ’15 and Mike Luterzo ’20.
The annual exclusive competition only extends invitations to the top 16 trial advocacy institutions in the country. At the competition, the nation’s finest law students showcase their multifaceted talents by competing in teams of four with each team trying both sides of a civil case—twice as plaintiffs and twice as defendants. Participants also receive intensive, one-on-one coaching from top-tier professionals in law school trial advocacy programs.
"It was a true honor and privilege to be invited to the Tournament of Champions mock trial competition-- the most elite competition in the nation. Invitations are based solely on objective performance rankings in the preeminent national competitions,” said Professor Louis V. Fasulo, Director of Moot Court and Advocacy Programs. “Our students' success in the American Association of Justice competition over the last two years resulted in Haub Law’s first ever invitation to this exclusive tournament.”
Haub Law Adjunct Professor and alum AJ Muller has generously devoted his time as a trial coach for Haub Law since 2016. “This invitation marks yet another stride in our Advocacy Program's ascent into the national stage,” said Muller. “Our students' performance at the Tournament demonstrated our program's ability to produce the caliber of advocates needed to be a force on the national stage. I look forward to Advocacy Programs continued success to gain continuing entry into this elite Tournament.” Muller is also a Senior Associate at Trivella & Forte LLP. The Advocacy Team’s second coach, alum Mike Luterzo is an Assistant District Attorney with the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office. Luterzo started volunteering alongside Muller last year and together-- under the leadership of Professor Fasulo--they have fostered numerous successful advocacy teams, serving as mentors and coaches for many Haub Law students.
More from Pace
In the Media
Haub Law Professor Bennett Gershman also writes an op-ed in amNewYork warning about President Trump’s escalating use of the death penalty. He traces Trump’s long history with capital punishment — from the Central Park Five ads to a surge of federal executions — and argues that his renewed push represents a dangerous expansion of prosecutorial power and political theater. In Roll Call, Professor Gershman comments on a controversial Senate payout provision, noting that the structure defies typical legal concepts and raises serious concerns about corruption and prosecutorial integrity.
In the Media
In Gothamist, Haub Law Professor Emeritus Michael Mushlin is credited as a key architect behind a proposal that would require New York judges to spend a day visiting prisons and jails before making detention and sentencing decisions. Mushlin, one of the nation’s leading experts on prisoners’ rights law, convened a committee of judges and practitioners to strengthen the existing, rarely enforced visitation rule. The updated proposal is designed to ensure judges better understand the conditions they are consigning people to when they impose custodial sentences.
In the Media
In amNewYork, Pace Haub Law Professor Bennett Gershman pens a powerful op-ed examining how President Donald Trump’s towering monuments, incendiary rhetoric, and erosion of democratic norms signal a deeper moral and structural deterioration within American civic life. Professor Gershman writes that this sweeping “uglification” is reshaping the nation’s public landscape and unsettling the democratic foundations that once held firm.