Our Alumni

celia palermo

Active from 2013-2017, Celia was an incredibly talented attorney, no matter which side of a case she was on. Celia’s favorite part of UGA Mock Trial is the lasting relationships, road trips to tournaments, and funny memories she made with her friends in the program. Celia has taken the presentation skills she learned through mock to the screen: currently, she’s a Sports Anchor & Reporter at WQAD in Moline, Illinois.

erin sweeney

If you think the most perfect thing about Erin is her eyeliner, you’ve never seen her deliver a closing argument. Erin is currently killing it as a 3L at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, working at Doran Justice, PLLC, and the Phoenix Public Defenders Office. Erin competed with UGA Mock Trial from 2014-2018, but her Mock Trial journey hasn’t ended there— she’s currently competing as a member of the ASU Law Mock Trial team and coaching ASU’s Undergraduate team!

caroline pearson

While we’re all Mock Dawgs, only one attorney is deserving of the nickname the bulldawg. Caroline competed with UGA Mock Trial from 2015-2019, as an attorney (and a character witness, for one fun semester). Caroline is about to start her second year at Harvard Law and hopes to one day work for the Department of Justice. While we’ll miss her at spring retreats and on counsel table, we know she’s going to do some seriously great things in the future.

RYAN AUSTIN

A powerful character witness with even more powerful eyebrows, Ryan was a beloved competitor with UGA Mock from 2017-2019. Ryan was one of our most spirited mockers, and his jokes could easily bring a team practice to tears. Ryan is currently pursuing his Masters studying addiction counseling and is the President of the Gamma Gamma Epsilon chapter of Chi Sigma Iota: a national honor society for counselors.

jesika french

A competitor with UGA Mock Trial from 2006-2010, Jesika was one of the first competitors to experience a National Champsionship Environment. Extremely talented as both an attorney and a witness, Jesika’s favorite memory from Mock Trial is going to Memphis for the first Nationals tournament in 2010 as the only team that was 100% student run (the first time UGA ever received a bid to go to to Nationals)! Today, Jesika works in Atlanta at the prestigious Jones Day law firm.

NICK LEWIS

From 2016-2020, Nick Lewis (that’s L-E-W-I-S, not Grubis), competed with UGA Mock Trial as a double-sided attorney and witness. King of rhetorically-charged statements and the wildest case theories, Nick always gave our program the competitive and creative edge UGA Mock Trial is known for. Outside of competition, Nick served as one of our most accomplished captains, captaining 5 of our teams! Now, Nick is a1L at UGA Law.