KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee College of Law has become the first team to win the evidence national moot court championship two years in a row.
Tennessee second-year law students Preston Hawkins, Dawn Rivera and Brent Cobb went undefeated in the Jerome Prince Evidence Moot Court competition held March 29-31 at the Brooklyn, N.Y., Law School.
The trio defeated law schools from Georgetown University, New York University, Cornell University, the University of San Diego and the University of Kentucky.
UT Law Professor Neil Cohen, who coached the UT team, described the students as “self motivated, talented and intelligent.”
“The members of this team had a great desire to do well and were willing to put in the time and effort to accomplish their goals,” Cohen said. “They represented the College of Law with distinction and class.”
UT also was recognized for having the second-best brief, he said.
Cobb, from Joelton, Tenn., is a 1999 cum laude graduate of Samford University, where he received a B.A. degree in political science and public administration.
Hawkins, from Knoxville, graduated magna cum laude from UT in 1999 with a B.S. degree in political science.
Rivera is from St. Petersburg, Fla., and earned a B.S. degree in journalism from the University of Florida in 1989.
UT won the national championship a year ago with a team of third-year law students. Over the last nine years, UT has entered the competition seven times, winning three Jerome Prince national championships and finishing second once and third once.