Jacob Stofer
Special to The Ledger
The Kansas Court of Appeals will hold two sessions of oral arguments on April 17, 2018 in the Hudson Auditorium in the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Jay Nadlman, associate professor, Legal Studies, said the Kansas Court of Appeals started visiting campus about 10 years ago.
“They have been coming here consistently for at least the last 10 years,” Nadlman said. “It [was] started by professor Anita Tebbe, who was the long-time chair of the program. She reached out to the court and suggested that they come visit campus, they have been coming here ever since.”
The college is the only campus that’s visited in the area.
“Professor Tebbe was very involved with the Kansas Bar Association and we try to be accommodating to them,” Nadlman said. “Also, a number of the judges on the Court of Appeals are from the Johnson County area.”
Students are invited with their classes to attend this event. One of those students in Nadlman’s class, Stephanie Crocker, will be attending this event for the first time.
“I was excited and surprised,” Crocker said. “I think it’s great that the judge and attorneys, not to mention the parties to the case, are willing to give us the opportunity to watch and learn from them.”
Lauren Sandeful, student, said she was also excited to hear the court was coming to campus.
“I think it is really cool that they do that,” Sandeful said. “I started in the paralegal program in the summer of 2016. When I hear about it, I think that it is really cool the college does that. It’s a great opportunity for students interested in the field to check it out. It is a real cool experience that we can take a part of.”
The court will cover a workers compensation case and a tort case. More information on the cases can be found on the docket.
Crocker said she’s anticipating seeing the case being argued.
“I’m excited to see how it’s different from the trials I’ve been to,” Crocker said. “From my understanding, the appeals process focuses largely on the technical aspects of what happens up to and at trial. I’m looking forward to learning how I can better prepare a case to stand up through trial and appeal.”
*Editors note: This story was written as part of the News Writing and Reporting class as an assignment.
*The names of professors Anita Tebbe and Jay Nadlman were previously misspelled, The Ledger apologizes for this error.