Congratulations to our 2015–2016 Program Award Winners!

First Place

Race Matters—Should Justice Be Colorblind? (P13356)
The Anthony M. Kennedy Inn of Court—Sacramento, CA
This poignant program discusses the role of race in all things legal from courtroom, jury, judge, trial, and beyond. It examines the role that race plays in today’s society and the issues involved when that is what is judged over all other factors and is allowed into the justice system and the framework of our lives.

Second Place

Judging the Justices: The Changing Public Perception of the U.S. Supreme Court (P13265)
American Inn of Court of Acadiana—Lafayette, LA
This program, inspired by a Pew Research poll released right after the Supreme Court of the United Stats' most recent term, addresses the changing public perception of the Supreme  Court of the United States. The program is based on a “show-within-a-show” model and simulates a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) fundraising telecast. The featured program during the “telecast” is an interview-style program with three former and current Supreme Court Justices—Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (“from the great beyond”), and Justice Antonin Scalia. During the interview segments, the Justices explore these issues with the “host,” Dr. Horace Berkeley

Third Place

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free . . .* Restrictions Apply (P13339)
The Temple American Inn of Court—Philadelphia, PA
This program presented the basics of immigration in the United States, specifically looking at the various hurdles faced by those attempting to get into the United States on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. The program provided the basic laws and procedures one may face in handling an immigration case with a historical focus that highlights the different populations seeking legal status over the decades and how they fared in the system.

Best Special Project

Bankruptcy Program for the 53rd Academy of American and International Law (P13502)
The Hon. John C. Ford American Inn of Court—Dallas, TX
Each summer for the past 53 years, the Center for American and International Law located in Plano, Texas has hosted a 6-week residential, legal education program for non-US attorneys.  On June 10, 2016, the John C. Ford Bankruptcy Inn of Dallas/Fort Worth presented a one-day, "hands-on" seminar on bankruptcy and international insolvency to this year's students.  There were 47 attorneys from 24 different countries in attendance.

Outstanding Program Awards

Dealing With Difficult Clients and Compensation Issues (P13261)
Craig S. Barnard American Inn of Court—West Palm Beach , FL
A one hour seminar prepared by the Lincoln Inn Pupillage Group of the Craig S. Barnard Chapter of the American Inns of Court, for members of the Chapter, presenting ethical issues and case law concerning: 1) dealing with difficult clients; and 2) attorney compensation issues. The seminar is presented through the eyes of two law students who are studying for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). The students are waiting for a third student to join them, and decide to watch an episode of their favorite television show, Better Call Saul. In this episode, James McGill is interviewed for a position with the Sante Fe, New Mexico law firm that has been referred the Sandpiper Crossing RICO case which James McGill initially investigated. During three distinct scenes, members of Lincoln Inn portray characters from Better Call Saul as they recreate circumstances of select Florida cases dealing with the topics of difficult clients and attorney compensation.

The Military Trial of the Lincoln Conspirators: Was Justice Served? (P13283)
The New York American Inn of Court—New York, NY
In 1865, eight defendants were tried before a Military Commission for conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln and other high government officials. The Historical Trial Team presented a reenactment of the trial. They focused primarily on the evidence concerning two defendants whose guilt or innocence is still argued today - Mary Surratt, who owned the boarding house at which the conspiracy was plotted, and Dr Samuel Mudd, who set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg after the assassination. This program was timely both because 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, and because disputes concerning the limits of military jurisdiction are still being litigated in the Guantanamo cases. A panel discussion following the trial reenactment discussed whether the Lincoln conspirators were properly tried before a military rather than a civilian court in 1865, and the implications of their case for today.

A Christmas Carol: DNA Past, Present & Future (P13304)
The Earl Warren Inn of Court—Oakland, CA
This program was designed to explore issues surrounding DNA collection.  Currently, California has a law which allows DNA to be collected upon arrest for ANY felony.  Two cases are currently pending before the California Supreme Court, which address the constitutionality of DNA collection at the point of arrest.  One case has held that DNA collection at the time of arrest is unconstitutional and the other indicates that is not.  The California Supreme has asked for one of the the appellate districts to review this issue in light of a Federal Supreme Court case, Maryland v. King. Our program explored what the relevant legal analysis is for making this decision and what result our Supreme Court should reach.

A Three Hour Trial, A Three Hour Trial (P13309)
The Judge Consuelo M. Callahan American Inn of Court—Stockton, CA
The program topics were social media evidence and expert witnesses using the silliness of the Gilligan’s Island characters. To modernize the material, we added Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to the mix. The structure of the program was designed to present the social media issues in Act 1, discuss those issues, present the expert witness topic in Act 2, and then discuss that issue. Both civil and criminal litigators lead the discussions so that both civil and criminal perspectives would be represented.

Sherlock Holmes and the Threat to the Rule of Law (P13316)
The Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court—Sacramento, CA
This program focuses on the ethical issues that arise when there is a conflict between state and federal law and advising clients who want to take action that may violate one of those existing laws. It goes on to discuss the ethical implications in the use of prosecutorial discretion to avoid implementation of the law, and the separation of powers between the branches of government. Finally, it leads to a discussion regarding the ethical considerations for counsel and judges regarding the use of precedent.

Mr. Doolittle's Dilemma (P13381)
The Judge Consuelo M. Callahan American Inn of Court—Stockton, CA
The program presents the fact pattern through the use of a puppet theater and large hand puppets! The program follows the misadventures of Mr. Doolittle, an old-school lawyer with old school ideas about technology and electronic discovery, who is confronted with problems concerning his duties competency and confidentiality raised by issues surrounding discovery of his client’s electronically stored information (ESI)

The 12 Days Of Inn Of Court: A Civility Translator Program (P13466)
The Earl Warren Inn of Court—Oakland, CA
Members took the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" and turned it into 10 short skits and 2 audience participation sections, broken up by the different verses of the song.  Both the skits and the audience participation sections focused on ethics and civility in the legal practice.  Using the "Anger Translator" idea from the 2015 White House Correspondents' Dinner, we created Civility Translators who guided our attorneys in their tasks and demonstrated better ways of resolving legal issues.