For the second time in four years, Southwestern’s Mock Trial Team will be going to the national tournament this spring.

The team received a bid to the tournament following its performance in the American Mock Trial Regional Tournament in Houston Feb. 5-6. At that tournament, the team won rounds against Rice University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Houston. Senior Chanea Wells also received a top attorney award for her performance as a plaintiff attorney.

The team also did well in two invitational tournaments this year. They placed fifth out of 23 teams at the University of Texas at Dallas Tournament in November 2010 and they placed 5th out of 26 universities at the University of Missouri - Kansas City Tournament in January 2011.

The national tournament will be held March 24-26 at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. Team members who will be participating are Captain Juan Juarez, Chanea Wells, Will Cozzens, Abbey Benold, Emi Anderson, Elizabeth Sakai, Ali Berner and Danny Jozwiak.

The case team members will be arguing this year is a product liability case involving the parents of a young child who swallowed some beads that were later discovered to contain a toxic substance.

The team is coached by three attorneys from Mark Morales and Associates, a law firm with offices in Georgetown, San Marcos and Austin.

The Mock Trial Team also qualified for the national tournament in 2009 after being founded just the year before. Team Captain Juan Juarez said he hopes the opportunity to compete at the National Tournament for the second time will encourage more students to become part of the team.