During the past week, Omar Ha-Redeye volunteered his time to play the role of a witness/client during law school competitions.

On Nov. 19, he played a witness for the finals in the Cherniak Cup.  Chief Justice Helen A. Rady of the Superior Court of Justice in n judged the competition, and mentioned to Omar during the reception that followed that based on his performance he should consider a career in acting.  Quite often though there is not much of a difference between a lawyer and an actor when they are advocating before the court.

On Nov. 20, he was a client for the BLG Client Counseling Competition, a role he played because he won the competition last year.  As a distraught client he broke down and cried three times for the finalists.  The last time he actually produced real tears.  The competition was won by Daliana Coban and Pamela Vlasic, who will represent UWO at the ABA Regional Competition in Feb. 2009.

Competition director Prof. Erika Chamberlain said,

This is a highly important practical skill – regardless of practice area. Lawyers must be able to interact with clients and make them feel confident that the lawyer will meet their needs.

One of the BLG lawyers that observed this also said later in the evening, with no foreknowledge of Rady J.’s statement the night before, that acting might be a promising option.

Could law school be the new prep school for actors?