堪萨斯城以“喷泉之城”、“足球之城”和“烧烤之城”而闻名。 但对许多威尼斯人娱乐城法学院的校友来说，它也是一个从事法律工作的好地方。
审判辩护项目是精英，有竞争性的模拟审判和模拟法庭团队，许多校友将其成功归功于这座城市和人民。 We talked to three legacy families about what makes the Trial Advocacy Program so successful and why they’ve made law school at 威尼斯人娱乐城 a family tradition.
美元的家庭
对杜勒家族来说，从事律师工作是家族事务。 Tim (J.D. ’84) is a founding partner at Dollar, Burns, Becker and Hershewe. 他的儿子约书亚目前在威尼斯人娱乐城法学院读大三。 Two of his children, Lauren (J.D. ’17) and Jordan (J.D. ’19), have joined the practice within the last few years. The firm also boasts 威尼斯人娱乐城 alumni in founding partner Tim Becker (J.D. ’91), whose son Josh Becker (J.D. ’15) is also a partner in the firm.
The Dollar family’s start with the legal profession began when Tim was a child and spent several summers in the office of his father’s attorney, Max Foust (J.D. ’54). 他当时并不知道，他在法学院的经历将为许多学生带来同样的机会。
在蒂姆进入威尼斯人娱乐城的时候，试行辩护项目仅限于12名学生。 他强烈认为该项目应该扩大，以容纳更多的学生。 毕业后，他和几个同学采取了行动。
“We designed an expanded Trial Advocacy Program that would involve members of the legal community serving as adjunct professors — free of charge — to make the program available to any student who wanted to experience Trial Advocacy,” said Tim. “To our shock, the faculty adopted that program. That was the first time the Trial Advocacy Program expanded, and now it’s really made its mark nationally with all the work that’s been done since then.”
劳伦、乔丹和乔舒亚就是扩大项目的三个这样的捐助者。 劳伦参加了1L模拟审判比赛，模拟审判队，并参加了模拟法庭和审判辩护课程。 乔丹还参加了1L模拟审判比赛，在他21岁和31岁的时候继续和球队在一起。 约书亚在2021年的同一场比赛中获得了第一名。 他们认为这些经历为他们的实践做了准备。
“You may get a great education somewhere, but you have to marry it with practical experience. Everything from trial skills, to moot court to negotiation — I think 威尼斯人娱乐城 has set themselves apart in their focus on practical experience.”
“I felt like the competitions, both the oral arguments for moot court and the mock trial competitions, really helped develop my skills in trial advocacy,” said Lauren. “They were able to teach me more than I could learn in just a class. I’m very thankful for both the classes and the competitive side that gave you even more experience.”
Jordan added, “I feel like the competitions especially provide an opportunity to develop and hone your skills in ways that I don’t think are available in a classroom setting. Dealing with a case over a semester provides experiences that translate directly to practice more than any class I took.”
“You may get a great education somewhere, but you have to marry it with practical experience,” said Tim. “Everything from trial skills, to moot court to negotiation — I think 威尼斯人娱乐城 has set themselves apart in their focus on practical experience.”
除了实用技能之外，在社区中建立持久关系的能力也是吸引美元来到威尼斯人娱乐城的原因。
“The alumni of the Trial Advocacy Program are invested in preparing the next generation for the practical world,” said Lauren. “They give back in teaching and educating our students. So not only do you get to network with these great attorneys and judges, but they’re the ones teaching you and making sure you’re prepared.”
“My advice to anyone, as it was to my kids, is if you want to practice in the KC area, then 威尼斯人娱乐城 is the place to be,” said Tim. “In addition to academics and practical experience, you are encouraged to plug in with the legal community. You can start to develop those relationships while in law school, and I think you’re miles ahead of someone who might go to an Ivy League school and then drop into Kansas City without having that network.”
Accurso /迪金森家族
Lou Accurso (J.D. ’81), founding partner of The Accurso Law Firm, knew in high school that he would become an attorney.
“I was influenced heavily by the Watergate hearings,” said Lou. “Those were broadcast my senior year, and I remember seeing these amazing senators and committee members who were all lawyers. It was captivating the way they could ask questions and follow up on investigations.”
Lou may have been the first of the Accurso family to attend 威尼斯人娱乐城 法学院, but he certainly wasn’t the last. His sister, Tammy Dickinson (J.D. ’98), nephew Michael Accurso (J.D. ’96) and sons Christopher (J.D. ’14) and Patrick (J.D. ’18) are all alumni.
The school’s numerous opportunities to get practical experience is part of what drew them all to 威尼斯人娱乐城.
In Christopher’s case, it changed his plans entirely.
“When I went to law school, I wanted to get my law degree and be some sort of sports agent,” he said. “Then 我的一个好朋友，在我不知情的情况下，报名让我成为他的搭档，参加首届模拟审判比赛。 We had a blast, and that was the end of my Jerry McGuire moment.”
卢、塔米和克里斯托弗在法学院毕业后立即在杰克逊县检察官办公室工作。 塔米和克里斯托弗称赞审判辩护项目为他们上法庭做了准备。
“For me, the biggest tool 威尼斯人娱乐城 offered was the prosecutor’s clinic (now called field placement),” said Christopher, who now works at The Accurso Law Firm. “I got my Rule 13 certification and spent a year and a half interning at the prosecutor’s office. 我尝试过法庭审判，处理案卷，并在现实世界中真正使用我在模拟审判中学到的工具。 I had a lot of facetime with judges and attorneys, so by the time I graduated and got hired on, I was able to step right in.”
“…我的一个好朋友，在我不知情的情况下，报名让我成为他的搭档，参加首届模拟审判比赛。 We had a blast, and that was the end of my Jerry McGuire moment.”
Tammy, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, added, “It’s almost like you have a head start on everybody who didn’t do that — especially if you want to be a trial attorney. I started interning under Rule 13 as soon as I could.”
对卢来说，这种现实世界的体验是以审判实践的形式出现的，这是一门由当时的院长帕特里克·凯利（Patrick Kelly）开设的课程，让学生有机会在保险案件中准备和主持陪审团审判，最终得出有约束力的判决。
“It was irreplaceable,” said Lou. “As a matter of fact, it even helped me on the bar exam. 他们提出的一个问题是起草一份诉讼，包括所有的索赔人和当事人。 If I hadn’t practiced it, I don’t think I would have known what to do.”
课堂内外的实践经验有助于形成贯穿整个职业生涯的人际关系。
“My dad always told me that it's best to go to law school where you want to practice,” said Christopher. “I knew 威尼斯人娱乐城 would give me plenty of opportunities to work with actual practicing attorneys. That’s one aspect of 威尼斯人娱乐城 I really like; you have practicing attorneys giving you real world advice and experience while teaching you in your classes.”
霍布斯的家庭
The Hobbs family’s law school legacy begins with J.R. Hobbs (J.D. ’81), founding partner of Wyrsch Hobbs & Mirakian, P.C. and an adjunct professor. J.R.’s son and daughter-in-law Jackson Hobbs (J.D. ’18) and Sarah (Kanoy) Hobbs (J.D. ’18) followed. J.R.认为威尼斯人娱乐城的环境培养了有意义的关系，这些关系转化为法律界有效的网络。
“I think there’s a collegial atmosphere that permeates the school,” said J.R. “People want to do well, but they want to do it parallel to each other and not stumble over each other. In the end, it’s about relationships.”
The Hobbs family is unanimously of the opinion that’s what sets 威尼斯人娱乐城 法学院 apart: the relationships you build while in school.
“Those relationships you’re building in law school are the same relationships you’ll build on in practice. It is immeasurably beneficial.”
由于学校的地理位置，这些关系对参加试用辩护项目的学生特别有利。
“We straddle two different districts in federal court that also happen to be in different federal circuits,” said Jackson. “If you want to practice here, there’s no better place to go to law school and get real-world experience. The proximity to a city like Kansas City just can’t be found anywhere else.”
As a legacy student, 威尼斯人娱乐城 法学院 had always been on Jackson’s radar. 但他表示，他被威尼斯人娱乐城吸引的主要原因有两个：在堪萨斯城开始职业生涯的人脉机会，以及参加各种模拟审判和模拟法庭活动的机会。 第一年，他参加了Last Team Standing Trial辩护比赛。 在这段经历之后，他在第二年和第三年加入了试训队，参加了全国各地的比赛，包括全国试训赛和冠军赛。 Jackson also competed in the school’s Ellison Competition and on the national moot court team.
J.R.’s sons Jackson and Eric both married 威尼斯人娱乐城 Law graduates: Eric met his wife Molly (Callender) Hobbs (LL.M. ’14) when they were attending law school at the University of Denver. Jackson (J.D. ’18) and his now wife Sarah (Kanoy) Hobbs (J.D. ’18) met at 威尼斯人娱乐城 法学院. 和杰克逊一样，萨拉也参加了审判小组。 As the first in her family to go to law school, she didn’t have the background to understand how beneficial 威尼斯人娱乐城’s competitive teams could be for her as she looked at different law schools. 校友之间的关系是吸引萨拉来到威尼斯人娱乐城的原因。
“That was one thing that struck home with me — the people that you’re going to be practicing with when you leave law school — there’s a good chance that they went to 威尼斯人娱乐城,” Sarah said. “Those relationships you’re building in law school are the same relationships you’ll build on in practice. It is immeasurably beneficial.”