This year marks the 50th anniversary of the College of Law’s participation in the ABA-sponsored Client Counseling Competition. I have been privileged, along with Professor Craig Lawson, to have coached hundreds of talented students and traveled with them to regional, national and international competitions. Nebraska Law will celebrate this anniversary on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, and we invite all former student competitors and alumni judges and mentors to join us.
Looking back over the years summons up so many memories – many more than I can relate in this brief article. I will focus on three significant milestones:
1975: The Law College wins the national competition in its first year competing.
I asked professors David Ludtke and Josephine Potuto to help me organize a Nebraska Law competition, select a winning team and coach that team to compete in the regional competition. We watched ten two-person teams interview a role-playing client. From the 20 students we observed, we selected four individuals who we had practice in various combinations until we settled on the final pairing. Bob Cannon, ’76, and Susan (Jacobs) Johnson, ’76, emerged as the winning team and competed in the regional competition in Iowa City, Iowa. They won the regional, thus qualifying to compete in the national finals at Notre Dame.
We prepared for the nationals in the brand-new building on East Campus without the benefit of a library. Assistant Dean Don Shanefelt helped us secure funding from Nebraska Bookstore, which we used to rent a six-passenger plane. Lloyd Kaufman, ’76, who worked for Nebraska Bookstore was the pilot on our flight to and from South Bend, Indiana. Cannon and Jacobs conducted two magnificent interviews and were crowned national champions. One of the judges said that the team’s listening skills “went off the scale.” The tone of excellence was set.
2009: Nebraska Law wins international competition
Although Amy Bartels, ’10, and Adam Bates, ’10, secured the best score after the three-interview preliminary rounds of the Nebraska Law competition, they finished second in the College’s final round to Carrie (Christensen) Thober, ’10 and Anna (Doss) Brooks, ’10. But that would be their final loss, as Bartels and Bates went on to win the regional, national and international competitions. At the regional competition in Denver, Colorado, they swept every round to qualify for the National Finals held at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. There they bested Lewis & Clark and George Washington in the final round to become national champions.
Participating in the international competition, held in Las Vegas, Nevada, were teams from 22 countries. In the final round, Bartels and Bates defeated teams from England/Wales and Russia to claim the championship. They were a terrific team who used their natural abilities – their teamwork, their great instincts and their openness to suggestions – to excel. As reigning international champions, they traveled to Hong Kong in 2010 to hand off the championship plaque to their successors.
2015: Nebraska Law hosts International Client Consultation Competition
At the international competition in 2014 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we indicated our interest in hosting the international competition in Lincoln. Our offer was greeted coolly. However, they were not “warm” on going to Lapland, Finland either, so they solicited and accepted our bid to host. Twenty schools from around the world came to Lincoln for the 2015 ICCC, which was won by England. It was an amazing experience. Commented Dean Susan Poser after the first day of the competition, “Yesterday was one of the most extraordinary days we have ever had at the Law College.” Said a member of the Malaysian team upon returning home, “We left our hearts in Lincoln.”
Scrolling back to take a wider view, the College’s Client Counseling competition teams have won 19 regional, 6 national and 1 international competitions. The other national champion teams were: Kevin Corlew, ’05, and Adam Pavelka, ’05, in 2004; Christine (Baughman) Truhe, ’12, and Audrey (Johnson) Polt, ’12 in 2012; Katie Joseph, ’15, and Richard Tast, ’15 in 2014; and Jenna (Cope) Stewart, ’18, and Kari Schmitz, ’18, in 2017. All the teams we coached over the years were wonderful to work with as were the dedicated volunteer judges and client actors who made the competitions possible. Competing was nice, but better was the opportunity to get to know so many remarkable people.
The current coaches – Professor Brett Stohs and Audrey Polt – continue to mentor high-quality teams. In fact, in 2025, they achieved another first for Nebraska Law: Two teams were invited to the national finals. The teams of Steve Sherman, ’26, and Jenna Stevens, ’26, and Isabel Cheesman, ’25, and Kyle Kelley, ’25, finished first and second in a crowded regional of 18 teams. Their accomplishment signals that this program has a great future.
We are eager to see many alumni competitors and judges this spring as we celebrate our 50th anniversary of what is now named the Alan Frank and Craig Lawson Client Counseling Competition. Coinciding with the celebration will be the ABA Regional Competition hosted by Nebraska Law Feb. 20-22, 2026. Details will follow but please save the weekend to celebrate with us and perhaps volunteer as a competition judge!
