Pepperdine Caruso Law Trial Advocacy Team Competes at Estrella Trial Advocacy Competition in Puerto Rico

On April 5-6, 2025, the Pepperdine Caruso Law Trial Advocacy Program sent a team of advocates to compete for the first time in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Estrella Trial Advocacy Competition. The competition hosted fourteen schools from around the nation.

The Caruso Law team of Natashja Atherton, Emily Fukuda, Erin Gaynor, and Jarrod Houseknecht competed against the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University in a fictional negligence case involving a plaintiff suffering a heart attack at a dance competition hosted by a department store.

Emily Fukuda and Jarrod Houseknecht each earned one of three awards for Best Oral Advocate of the Competition.

The Trial Advocacy Program congratulates these advocates on their accomplishments.