UNL Law's Client Counseling duo wins international competition

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law's client counseling team of Adam Bates and Amy Bartels won the 2009 International Client Counseling Competition April 1-4 at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Bates and Bartels, both of Lincoln, had the second best score after the first two preliminary rounds of interviews. In the head to head semifinal round, the team beat duos representing India and Northern Ireland. In the final round, it beat teams from England/Wales and Russia, getting first place votes from all five international judges to win the competition.

Bartels and Bates are the first U.S. team to win the competition since 1996. Other countries participating in the competition were Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and the Ukraine.

Alan Frank, UNL professor of law and coach for Bartels and Bates, said the two students met in high school attending Youth Leadership Lincoln; Bartels is a graduate of Lincoln East High School, and Bates, of Pius X High School. Both are in their second year of law school. They advanced from the local competition to regionals in Denver in February, to nationals in Durham, N.C., in late March. The Law College first won the national competition in 1975, the first year the college participated in the competition. The college's team also won the national competition in 2004.

Frank said the client counseling competition is all about meeting with clients: making sure they feel comfortable, gathering the facts about the case, defining the client's concerns and goals, coming up with a plan on how to represent the client, talking tentatively about options and discussing logistics like costs. The team is given only a one- or two-sentence description of the client's problem such as what is mentioned when the client sets up the first appointment. Actors play the role of the clients, and they are observed by panels of three lawyers and counselors critiquing and scoring them.

"Going to internationals is a wonderful thing, to be with all these young people from all over the world and to meet with them and talk to them, for the students, and for me, to get to know more about legal education in those countries," Frank said. "To win this international competition is astounding for them and for UNL."

And he said the students are rightly proud of their accomplishment. "It will look good on their resume that's for sure," he said.

"Al Frank and Craig Lawson have run one of the best client counseling programs in the country for many years now," said Steven Willborn, dean of the Law College. "This is the third time their teams have won the United States championship. But this is our first international championship in client counseling or, to my knowledge, in any student competition. What an achievement by Amy and Adam, and by professors Frank and Lawson."