Two students from the University of Illinois College of Law are world champions after winning an international client counseling competition.

Benjamin Paulsen and Julie Holdener outperformed teams from 21 countries at the 2018 Brown Mosten International Client Consultation Competition held at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

“Julie and Ben were fantastic from start to finish. Not only did they compete at a very high level, but they represented the College of Law, the University of Illinois and the United States with class and kindness,” said team coach James Noonan ’11, an adjunct professor at the College of Law. “They not only earned the respect of the competition judges, but also the respect of their competitors: young lawyers from 21 other countries that will surely be influential throughout the world.”

Earlier this semester Paulsen and Holdener won the ABA Client Counseling Regional competition at Loyola University-Chicago School of Law. That win made them the team representative from Region 7 at the ABA Client Counseling National competition in Durham, North Carolina, where they swept the final round by earning perfect scores from all the judges and won the National competition. Winning the National made them the official team to represent the United States at the World competition held last week in the Netherlands.

Team USA was seeded first after their performances in the preliminary rounds, where they advanced to the semifinals. From there they advanced to the final round against a team from Malaysia and a team from Scotland. When the judges revealed the final results, Ben and Julie were named World Champions.

As winners, the team will receive prizes donated by the International Bar Association. In addition, the team and coach will have their names inscribed on the competition trophy and also received gold medals.

The Brown Mosten International Client Consultation Competition is an annual competition for the winners of national competitions across the world. It provides an opportunity for law students to learn and practice interviewing and counseling skills as well as to meet lawyers from an amazing range of nations and cultures. Over the last ten years, law students from the following countries have taken part: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, China, England and Wales, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Irish Republic, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States. More information is available here.