California Western Students Compete in Conte Cup, Intraschool Opening Statement Competition

SAN DIEGO (August 5, 2024) -- Last week, the Moot Courtroom at California Western School of Law (CWSL) was once again filled with incredible advocacy! Eight 1L’s participated in the final round of the Conte Cup, CWSL’s intraschool opening statement competition. Throughout the year, the Competitive Advocacy Program (CAP) and Moot Court Honors Board organize intraschool competitions like this one, giving all California Western students the opportunity to try their hand at advocacy and determine whether they would like to apply to be part of CAP. 

The Conte Cup champion was Savanah Rodriguez; second place went to Elle Cook; and third place to Yasmine Berger. The other five finalists were Joshua Beck, Batsheva Levy, Michell Howard Navarro, Stephanie Toledo, and Raymond Vasquez. Based on the performances they witnessed, the competition judges awarded all eight finalists Distinguished Advocacy Awards. 

The judges for the competition were three distinguished California Western alumni themselves, attorneys at the top of their fields in civil and criminal law, who regularly volunteer their time to mentor students in CAP: 

     ~Deborah Dixon ’07, Founding Partner at The Dixon Firm, whose practice focuses on class and mass actions relating to defective products and fraud. She also serves as the General Counsel for the Los Angeles Chargers, acting as the lead lawyer for the NFL team. 

    ~Chris Lawson ’05, San Diego County Deputy District Attorney, who has been with the DA’s office for over 18 years. He rose to the level of a team leader in the Gang Prosecution Unit and has spent much of his career prosecuting some of the most violent offenses that our community has seen. 

    ~Mike Romney ’07, Deputy District Attorney in Riverside County and the head of their recruiting department, who is always looking for new talent coming out of California Western. 

Paul Parisi, the Director of CAP, shared that this brand new 1L competition was an enormous success: “The Conte Cup provides our first-year students with an amazing advocacy opportunity: participants get to practice public speaking, learn courtroom skills, compete against their colleagues, and receive feedback and encouragement from local practicing attorneys. Just under 100 1L’s entered the competition over the spring and summer when it was offered, which was record participation for an intraschool competition. The enthusiasm and effort the students displayed was very exciting to watch!”