Carol Bagdady

Dan Ringo

DETROIT (Feb. 12, 2009) - Wayne State University Law School congratulates students Carol Bagdady and Dan Ringo on an impressive finish in the 2009 State Bar of Michigan: Law Student Section's 1L Oral Advocacy Competition. Bagdady and Ringo competed against nearly 70 competitors from the University of Michigan Law School, Michigan State University College of Law, University of Detroit Mercy Law School, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Wayne Law, Ave Maria School of Law and the University of Toledo College of Law, and placed in the top eight in the competition.

The purpose of the competition is to give first-year law students the opportunity to practice their oral argument skills prior to their first in-school competition. Students are asked to argue a problem by composing and executing an oral argument for each position.

"I would like to congratulate Carol and Dan on a remarkable achievement," said Wayne Law Dean and Professor Robert M. Ackerman. "This competition provides first-year law students with a wonderful opportunity to get their feet wet and hone their oral argument skills. Carol and Dan's impressive finish says a great deal about their skills at this stage on their legal journey. They have made all of us at Wayne Law proud."

The 2009 1L Oral Advocacy Competition problem focused on constitutional rights, free speech and defamation. Specifically, students were asked to analyze and argue the issue of public figure status within the defamation statute in the state of Michigan through a number of cases provided to them.

"I attribute our success in the competition to the education we have received from Wayne Law and, particularly, the instruction provided by Professor Amy Neville in Legal Writing and Research," said Dan Ringo. "It was truly an amazing experience that again solidified my desire to pursue the practice of law."

Bagdady added, "I am grateful to Wayne Law for the excellent education I am receiving and for the inspiration and encouragement provided by Professor Amy Neville to enter this competition."

About Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School has educated and served the Detroit metropolitan area since its inception as Detroit City Law School in 1927. Located at 471 West Palmer Street in Detroit's re-energized historic cultural center, the Law School remains committed to student success and features modern lecture and court facilities, multi-media and distance learning classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, and the Arthur Neef Law Library, which houses one of the nation's 40 largest legal collections. Taught by an internationally recognized and expert faculty, Wayne Law students experience a high-quality legal education via a growing array of hands-on curricular offerings, five live-client clinics, and access to well over 100 internships with local and non-profit entities each year. Its 11,000 living alumni, who work in every state of the nation and more than a dozen foreign countries, are experts in their disciplines and include leading members of the local, national and international legal communities. For more information, visit www.law.wayne.edu.