Published on October 23, 2007 at 7 p.m. by Mary Wimberley  

A trial team from Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Cumberland School of Law bested teams from seven other law schools to win last weekend's Quinnipiac Â鶹ÊÓƵ School of Law criminal justice trial advocacy competition.

During the event in Hamden, Conn., Oct. 20-21, the Cumberland advocates won every round of competition.

Team members are third year law students Dillon Barker of Rogersville, Tenn., Sigfredo Rubio of Birmingham, Charlotte Sonn of Auburn, and second-year student Lucas Griffin of Lawrenceville, Ga.

Griffin received an individual honor for "Best Individual Cross Examination.

Competitors were judged on opening remarks, cross/direct examination of witnesses and closing arguments.

The victory means that Cumberland's national trial team w ill receive an automatic invitation to the American Bar Association's criminal justice competition in the spring.

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 35 Most Beautiful College Campuses, Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.