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Loyola

From Left to Right: 1) Jack Balch, 2) Daniel Reynolds, 3) Marlan Badgett, 4) Inder Gunnala, 5) Naren Prasanna, 6) Agrismary Santiago, 7) Alisha Shah, 8) Gillian Dunlop, 9) Lauren Reyes, and 10) John Novi.

Loyola’s 2023-24 Corboy Fellows

Philip H. Corboy was the founding partner of the Chicago firm of Corboy & Demetrio and a 1949 graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Mr. Corboy was widely recognized as one of the greatest trial lawyers of his generation. In 1995, he created the Philip H. Corboy Fellowship in Trial Advocacy program at Loyola to support those students who plan to pursue careers as trial lawyers. As a result of this exceptional program, over 100 Loyola law students have received scholarship assistance in addition to some of the best advocacy training in the country. Mr. Corboy's leadership and generosity have been instrumental in enabling Loyola to maintain its reputation for educating leading trial lawyers. The fellowship program is supported by an Endowment created through the generosity of the Philip H. Corboy Foundation that is led by Mary A. Dempsey, President.

The Corboy Fellowship is a group of ten students that are chosen each spring to compete throughout the year in mock trial competitions all over the nation.  The Corboy Fellows represent Loyola University Chicago School of Law in several mock trial competitions throughout the academic year. In preparation for the competitions, the team is immersed in an extensive and rigorous three-week training session during the summer.  Some of Loyola's most prominent graduates - Dan Webb (JD '70), Winston & Strawn; Phil Corboy (JD '49), Corboy & Demetrio; The Honorable Gino DiVito (LLB '63), Tabet DiVito & Rothstein; Todd Smith (JD '76), Power Rogers & Smith; and The Honorable Lorna Propes (JD '75), Cook County Circuit Court – have participated in the team's trial advocacy training and instruction.

During the academic year, the team spends hundreds of hours working with coaches preparing for competitions. Regular practice sessions are held three hours a day, four nights each week, and Saturday mornings and afternoons. Public defenders, state's attorneys, U.S. attorneys and civil trial lawyers donate their time, expertise, and experience to providing Loyola's top advocacy students with the best one-on-one training available. As a result, the graduates of this exceptional program are among the leading young trial lawyers in Chicago and in the country.

In the last several years, the Corboy fellows have won six national championships, five regional championships, three Best Cross Examination Awards, a Best Direct Examination Award, a Best Opening Statement Award, four Best Advocate Awards, and placed 2nd and 3rd (out of 320) in the oldest and most prestigious trial competition in the nation, the National Trial Competition in Texas.

The head coach and program director is Amy Thompson, Assistant Public Defender with the Office of the Cook County Public Defender.