Third year West Virginia University Law student Parker D’Antoni recently received national recognition for his outstanding performance at a student trial competition held at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in Baltimore.
At the conclusion of the preliminary rounds of the National Trial Competition hosted by the Texas Young Lawyers Association, D’Antoni was named “best overall attorney” out of 22 teams representing twelve regional law schools. He received the highest score in each of the four rounds of preliminary competition, held in early February.
D’Antoni, 26, of Saint Albans, and his teammate, Lucas Tanner, 24, of Rosedale, were required to argue both sides in a criminal trial that involved a fictional burglary and felony theft. WVU Law alumni John Pizzo and Mitch Moore coached the team, who spent nearly ten hours arguing the cases over the course of the two-day competition.
WVU Law 3L Students, pictured left to right, Lucas Tanner and Parker D'Antoni
D’Antoni called the award his “biggest accomplishment” of law school, adding that winning a trophy at a national competition was a “shocking but really nice way to cap off my Lugar experience.”
As a first-year law student, D’Antoni wasn’t sure what type of law interested him, but after participating in the 1L Lugar Trial Association competition, he decided that a litigation career might be in the cards. He said Prof. Charles DiSalvo’s trial advocacy course was a law school highlight, and as a result of that coursework and his involvement with Lugar, he feels prepared for the position he has accepted at Farrell, White & Legg PLLC, a civil defense litigation firm based in Huntington.
Coach Mitch Moore, a Steptoe & Johnson associate who accompanied the students to Baltimore, said he had never seen a team put in more work than D’Antoni and Tanner. The students met with their volunteer coaches for about four hours each week for the six weeks leading up to the competition.
“They really committed to the process,” Moore said. “I couldn’t be happier that Parker won the award.”
