Lisa Gentry won the competition and the runner-up was Greg Laux.

Participanting students were Elizabeth Acciani, Jeff Davis, Lisa Gentry, Charles Harmon, Zach Hoskins, Eric Hutson, Edward Kim, Greg Laux, Juliana Madaki, Jeremiah Schlotman, Christopher Soergel, Diane Thomas-Joy, Peter Tripp, Jerod Vance, and Elizabeth Wafula.

The Student Advocacy Society would like to thank the competition judges, as well as other faculty and staff who assisted with the program.

The volunteer judges were Harry Sudman, Beverly Storm, Robert Davis, Josh Brown, Professor Rick Graves, Professor Lawrence Rosenthal, Bob Sanders, Kris Ellena, and Matt Strange.

Professor Sharlene Lassiter-Boltz allowed the Advocacy Society to use her fact pattern and offered support at the event, Dean David MacKnight helped with ordering the awards, Wendy Lane assisted with advertising and promotion, Professor Barbara McFarland helped the Advocacy Society students draft the score sheet, Sherrie Turner assisted with setting up the competition, and Center for Excellence in Advocacy Director Rick Bales offered guidance and support throughout the process.

The competition was organized by Chase Student Advocacy Society students Michelle Eviston, Melissa Hailey, Meagan Lorenzen, Ryan Maxwell, Mike McKinney, and Joseph Mooney.

Seventy-one Chase graduates sat for the exam, which was administered July 28-29 in Louisville, Ky.

First-time exam takers from Chase posted an 89 percent pass rate, while the state average for first-time takers was 84 percent. Overall, Chase posted a pass rate of 86 percent compared to a statewide average of 79 percent.

"We're very proud of our class of 2009," said Chase College of Law Dean Dennis Honabach. "Their success is further confirmation of our belief that a curriculum of solid instruction in doctrine and theory combined with extensive professional skills training prepares students for success on the bar examination as well as for the practice of law."

The largest of Kentucky's three law schools, the NKU Chase College of Law enrolls more than 600 students. Founded in 1893 as a part-time "night law school," Chase quickly developed a reputation as the "Lawyers' School" because of its emphasis on using the region's finest lawyers to prepare students for the practice of law. Educating the best practicing lawyers in the region became a tradition at Chase.

That tradition continues today. Chase offers a full-and part-time program that provides a holistic legal education while preparing students to be "practice ready" upon graduation. Through Chase's two Centers of Excellence, the Center for Excellence in Advocacy and the Transactional Law Practice Center, students work with Chase's nationally recognized professors and experienced successful practitioners, judges and businesspersons to acquire the knowledge and develop the skills necessary to be practice ready upon graduation.

Judge Ralph Winkler '70, was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a retired visiting judge on Ohio's First District Court of Appeals. He has served on the bench for more than 30 years, including four years on the Hamilton County Municipal Court and 18 years on the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas before being first-elected to the Ohio Court of Appeals in 1998. He also served in the United States Army, as a federal agent, and as the First Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. He has also been very active in civic organizations and community affairs.

Mary Denise Kuprionis '94, was the recipient of the Professional Achievement Award. She is vice president, secretary, and chief ethics and compliance officer of The E.W. Scripps Company. She was the first woman elected as an officer of the company, and she has held numerous leadership positions. Also active in many professional, civic and philanthropic organizations, she serves as chair of the board of trustees of the College of Mount St. Joseph and is a member of the board of trustees of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. In September 2009, she was selected as one of twenty-one women lawyers nationwide to participate in the American Bar Association's 2009 "DirectWomen" Program, an initiative designed to identify and promote qualified women lawyers to serve on corporate boards of public companies.

Judge John Andrew West '71, was the recipient of the Exceptional Service Award. A Judge on the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, he has served the greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky community for more than forty years as a history teacher, a lawyer, a jurist, and a board member of the Cincinnati Bar Association (CBA), National Conference of Community and Justice, and YMCA. He is a founding member of the Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati (BLAC), and is co-chair of the BLAC-CBA roundtable, an organization dedicated to increasing the presence of African Americans in the legal community. He is also a member of the Chase College of Law Board of Advisors.

Brett A. Schatz '00, was the recipient of the Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award. Brett is a partner at the law firm of Wood, Herron and Evans, where he has litigated complex lawsuits in all areas of intellectual property. He was named as one of the Ohio Super Lawyers - Rising Stars in 2006 and 2007. He has served as an adjunct professor at Chase College of Law and currently serves as the vice chair of the intellectual property section of the Cincinnati Bar Association.

More than 300 Chase alumni and friends attended the luncheon. The alumni association also hosted a CLE program before and after the luncheon titled "A View From Across the River II: Nuances Between Kentucky and Ohio Practice." Featured speakers were Stephanie A. Dietz '94, Randy J. Blankenship '96, Eliot G. Bastian '99, Paige Leigh Ellerman '99, Professor John M. Bickers, Judge Michelle M. Keller '90, and James R. Adams.

The program sponsor was Taft, Stettinius & Hollister. The table sponsors were: Adams, Stepner, Woltermann & Dusing; Arnzen, Molloy & Storm; Chase College of Law; Cors & Bassett; Dinsmore & Shohl; Dressman, Benzinger & LaVelle; The Farrish Law Firm; Frost Brown Todd; Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald; Keating, Muething & Klekamp; Mary Denise Kuprionis '94; The Lawrence Firm; Lerner, Sampson & Rothfuss; NKU Alumni Programs; NKU Foundation; O'Hara, Ruberg, Taylor, Sloan & Sergent; Parry, Deering, Futscher & Sparks; Brett A. Schatz '00; Schuh & Goldberg; Sutton Rankin Law; Taft, Stettinius & Hollister; Turner Construction Company; Judge John Andrew West '71; Judge Ralph Winkler '70; Wood, Herron & Evans; and Wood & Lamping.

Associate Professor Michael J.Z. Mannheimer,NKU Chase College of Law

Assistant Professor Melynda J. Price, University of Kentucky College of Law

Professor Scott W. Howe, Frank L. Williams Professor of Criminal Law, Chapman University School of Law

Ronald J. Tabak, Esq., Special Counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP & Affiliates and Chair, Death Penalty Committee, ABA

Professor Gennaro F. Vito, Professor and Distinguished University Scholar, University of Louisville, Department of Justice Administration

"The success of the symposium is directly attributable to the exceptional knowledge, experience, and passion of the panelists," said Fall Symposium Editor Bradley Gibson. "Among other issues, their discussion of race and the death penalty enlightened the audience as to the sociological impact of the death penalty on the African-American community, the evidence of racial bias in capital cases, and the constitutional implications of this evidence on the death penalty. The panel also discussed how death penalty attorneys can use this information in order to most effectively assist their clients. The law review would like to thank everyone involved for helping make the event such a success."

BLSA member Tiffaney Hammond entertained the crowd, singing "Lift Every Voice" and a DJ played music throughout the evening. Nearly 100 people attended the event, including Chase faculty and staff and members of the local legal community.

Professor Barbara McFarland, Director of the Student Success Initiatives Program, gave a presentation this summer at the Law School Admissions Council Training Workshop. Her essay on persuasive writing appeared in the September issue of Bench & Bar magazine.

Associate Dean for Faculty Development Jennifer Anglim Kreder recently participated in a public discussion after screening of the documentary Rape of Europa at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The film "explores the systematic theft of great works of art by the Nazi party," according to the Museum's website.

Upcoming events include two presentations by Professor Phil Sparkes. The first is for the Kentucky League of Cities, where Sparkes will discuss the recent trend by cities in several states toward suing lenders to recover a portion of the costs incurred by cities as a result of foreclosures. Professor Sparkes also will speak to the International Municipal Lawyers Association. As chair of the association's technology section, he will lead a panel addressing the issues surrounding automated traffic enforcement systems, particularly red light cameras.

Professor Barbara McFarland will co-present at an upcoming Inn of Court meeting about ethics and the new Kentucky requirement that requires attorneys to report other attorneys' misconduct.

Professor Jennifer Anglim Kreder is working pro bono for the Cincinnati Museum of Art in collaboration with Chase student Benjamin Bauer. Kreder also has a team of students and alumni compiling research for an eventual pro bono filing in a Nazi-looted art case in the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Finally, she will be speaking at Cardozo Law School and at a Continuing Legal Education class in New York in November.