By GREGORY ZELLER //
Teams of brilliant young doctors and lawyers bringing top medical and litigatory sciences to bear in heart-wrenching courtroom dramas … sounds like another hit for NBC.
Instead, it’s a unique mock-trial competition created by Hofstra University’s Maurice A. Deane School of Law and the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine – the only collegiate law competition in the nation where medical-school students provide “expert medical testimony” in faux trial sessions.
Welcome to the latest episode of the National Medical-Legal Trial Competition, hosted Oct. 6-8 by the Deane and Zucker schools, with representatives of 20 nationwide law schools speaking for the prosecution and the defense in multiple “civil trials” – and 13 Zucker School medical students taking the stand.
Working off a scripted set of facts, each competing law school was assigned a fourth-year medical student to prepare as an expert witness – meaning in each pretend case, both sides called their own medical witnesses to the stand, and each side had a chance to cross-examine the other’s expert.
Contest judges – including sitting real-life judges and practicing attorneys – rated the amateur attorneys and not-quite-ripened medical experts on their understanding of the facts, presentation skills and more.
Any medical practitioner can tell you that medicine and law intersect often – but most medical schools don’t pay enough attention to this common and critical crossing, according to Gino Farina, the Zucker School’s dean for clinical preparation for residency.
“The intersection of law and medicine often receives insufficient attention in many medical school curricula,” noted Farina, also a Hofstra professor of emergency medicine and science education. “Nevertheless, most physicians will inevitably find themselves interacting with lawyers at some point in their careers, whether it involves issues like medical malpractice or domestic abuse, or when they serve as medical expert witnesses.”
Hong show: In one case, Zucker School fourth-year Kristy Hong testified as an expert for both the prosecution and the defense.
The latter was on display at this past weekend’s trial-a-thon, officially the sixth National Medical-Legal Trial Competition, with the future attorneys of the University of Illinois College of Law-Urbana – with Zucker School fourth-year Kristy (Sungmin) Hong in their corner – earning first-place honors.
Hong was also assigned to assist students from the Fordham University School of Law, and when her two schools met in a later rounds, had to switch mid-trial from being the plaintiff’s witness to the defense’s witness.
That was “an abrupt transition,” Hong noted – but exactly the kind of out-of-her-comfort-zone experience the future doctor sought when she volunteered for the National Medical-Legal Trial Competition.
“It was rewarding to work with two schools,” she said. “Working on two teams made me more confident speaking on the stand and discussing the case.
Gino Farina: Paying attention.
“I learned how to form a medical-legal argument, work with law students and understand the law better,” Hong added. “And to communicate clearly and effectively for a jury.
“This elective has become one of my most memorable experiences in medical school.”
The competition’s first four rounds were held at the Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola, with the Deane School – which cosponsored this year’s contest but did not compete – hosting the semifinal and final rounds.
Tournament director Jared Rosenblatt, a Hofstra Law School special professor and faculty advisor to the Hofstra Trial Advocacy Association, said Hofstra was honored to host “the most unique mock-trial competition in the country.”
“Working with Dr. Farina and the Zucker School of Medicine has been a great endeavor,” Rosenblatt said in a statement. “Our partnership allowed us to successfully bring both medical and law students together for this one-of-a-kind experience.”
