The UF LitiGators recently hosted the Growlin’ Gator Charity Tournament on April 10-11, 2021. We welcomed a total of 18 teams from the Southeast, Midwest, Northeast, and across Florida. Teams of six to eight students prepared a prosecution or defense case-in-chief of the 2017 Nationals criminal case, United States v. Parker Barrow. The virtual competition consisted of three rounds and a championship round between the top prosecution and defense teams. The UF Litigators recruited over 35 local judges, attorneys, professors, and law students to judge at the tournament. We are grateful to all the judges who took time out of their day to help judge the Growlin’ Gator Charity Tournament!
There were 11 attorneys who won an Outstanding Attorney award and 12 witnesses took home an Outstanding Witness award. Team awards were given to the teams who won the most ballots overall. Among the top teams were Florida State University, Northwestern University, University of Mississippi, SUNY Geneseo, and the University of Florida. The championship round consisted of the University of Florida on the prosecution and SUNY Geneseo on the defense. The Growlin’ Gator Charity Tournament also gave the Spirit of the Swamp Award, our version of a good sportsmanship award, to the University of Alabama. This award goes to the highest ranked team in terms of honesty, civility and fair play.
Even in the midst of an unprecedented year, we are grateful to have been able to host this tournament and raise money for the Innocence Project of Florida. Thanks to all the teams who competed, we raised over $800 to help innocent prisoners in Florida regain their freedom and rebuild their lives. None of this would have been possible without our Tournament Director, Abby Shank, our Growlin’ Gator staff, and our head coaches, Dr. Laura Sjoberg and Dr. Joel Black. Thank you to everyone who helped make the Growlin’ Gator Charity Tournament a success!