Executive Board
USC Gould School of Law

Chair

• Reena Patel

Administrative Vice Chair

• Dimiana Saad

Advocacy Vice Chair

• Sam Dyar

Topic Editors

• Alaina Flores
• Joshua DeMelo

Editors

• Beckie Alch
• Brianna Bauer
• Michael Butts
• Luana De Mello
• Gretchen Goyette
• Patricia Mittelstadt

Executive Board Responsibilities

Chair

The Chair oversees all aspects of the Program, works closely with the Faculty Advisor, and coordinates work among the rest of the board members. The Chair is responsible for planning, articulating and enforcing specific expectations and attendance policies for both the Board and Participants, as well as scheduling judges for all rounds. The Chair also works with the Vice Chairs to ensure the success of the program.

Administrative Vice Chair

The Administrative Chair is responsible for the procedural aspects of the Program, serving as a liaison between the Chairs, board members, participants, faculty, and law school staff. The Administrative Chair's chief responsibilities include planning Hale social events, managing the competition scoring process, overseeing production of competition materials, and handling the budget. The Administrative Chair works in conjunction with the Advocacy Chair for all other administrative aspects of the Program.

Advocacy Vice Chair

The Advocacy Chair serves as the central reference point for questions regarding the competition case, grades the blue-booking and technical portions of the competition briefs, and plans the issue and advocacy seminars. The Advocacy Chair is also primarily responsible for the coordination of the First Year Qualifying Program and scheduling oral argument rounds. The Advocacy Chair also works in conjunction with the Administrative Chair for all other administrative aspects of the Program.

Topic Editors

The primary responsibility of the two Topic Editors is to develop the competition case and to write both the Record and the Bench Briefs. During the fall semester, each Topic Editor serves as an expert on his or her issue, leading the Editors assigned to their respective topic. Each Topic Editor works with the Advocacy Vice Chair to maintain uniform standard of advice and feedback. During the spring semester, the Topic Editors continue to serve as reference points for their issues.

Editors

Editors are responsible for meeting one-on-one with participants to help craft their arguments for both the briefs and the oral argument rounds. During the fall semester, editors are the primary resource for participants who have questions about their briefs. During the spring semester, editors help run mock rounds and attend all oral argument rounds to help participants refine their arguments and to deliver feedback on their oral advocacy skills.

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