Hosts of the 2008 Evidence Summit, Hon. Stephen Ables and Hon. Lora Livingston

If you need evidence of a winning judicial education conference, the 2008 Evidence Summit held August 3-5 at the Sheraton Austin Hotel should satisfy any doubts. The first of its kind, the Texas Center for the Judiciary brought together Texas judges and eight Texas law schools to compete for the title of Evidence Summit Champions.

Hosting the Summit were two of the most amazing and entertaining legal minds on the Texas bench today, Honorable Lora Livingston of the 261st District Court, and Honorable Stephen Ables, Presiding Judge of the 6th Judicial Region, 216th District Court.

This gathering was a first for judges and law schools, and based on the highly favorable responses (see next column), a worthy program to continue throughout the years.

How did the Summit work?
Each law school had a "host" team comprised of the law school dean (or his/her designate), an evidence professor, and ajudgealumna/alumnus. A distinguished judicial panel also served as a host team. Each panel hosted one hour of Evidence Jeopardy on a high-tech game board with remote transponders at each team's table. Selected categories included Relevancy, Hearsay, Hearsay Exceptions, Contents of Writings, Expert Witnesses, Non-expert Witnesses, Authentication and Identification, and Objections. Each panel administered their own 25 questions from the Jeopardy board.

Competition was Fierce!
The judicial teams consisted of all conference attendees, randomly assigned to a team. Lively discussion and debate ruled the day-an-a-half summit, and our illustrious hosts made certain no harm or foul came to anyone.

Announcing the 2008 Evidence Summit Champions:

First Place: Team 7

L to R: Donald Metcalfe, Ricardo Herrera, Carlos Cortez,
Ben Childers, Suzanne Stovall, Virgil Vahlenkamp
(Not pictured: Diane Henson, W.G. Woods)

Second Place:  Team 5

L to R: Kenneth DeHart, Don Burgess, Mollee Westfall,
Robert Moore (Not pictured: John Nelms, Carter Tarrance)

Third Place:  Team 2

Woody Densen, Patrice McDonald, Buddie Hahn, Eric Shepperd,
Mike Herrera, Robin Malone Darr, Stephen Yelenosky
(Not pictured: Mary Anne Bramblett, Lee Duggan)

Congratulations on Team 7's victory!

If you missed this year’s Summit, fear not. Next year's Evidence Summit will be even better, chocked full of new and exciting challenges. Enrollment will be limited, so watch for information in early 2009 on the next Evidence Summit!