Three first-year law students at California Western School of Law have more than made their legal cases.
The three recently were rewarded for their presentations at the 2026 Conte Cup Opening Statement Competition.
In the event, first-year law students battle head-to-head, looking to deliver top-notch opening statements in front of panels of experienced trial attorneys.
Students honored for their presentations were Sebastian Avila (1st place), Cynthia Sewah (2nd place), and Carlos Valdovinos (who came in 3rd.) The total financial award among the three students was $10,000.
This year’s event featured more than 90 students, with the panel narrowing to 13 exceptional finalists who delivered their statements in the final round.
Winners (L-R): Sebastian Avila, Cynthia Sewah, Carlos Valdovinos. (Photo courtesy of reminiscewithus.com)Judges and mentors HHJ Trial Attorneys also sponsored the event with the $10,000 contribution, providing checks for the top three students and supporting the Competitive Advocacy Program’s continued investment towards the future of the legal industry.
It is a relatively new competition, said Michael Hernandez, a partner with HHJ Trial Attorneys. “The 1L competition has been going on for decades but it changed from an appellate competition to an opening statement competition. I think this is more interesting and fun for the student to do a regular mock trial fact pattern.
Hernandez said that this allows students to burnish their oral advocacy presentation skills while learning how to tell a better, more persuasive story.
“Our goal was to get the students excited about the competition and encourage more talented students to try out,” Hernandez added. “We know that it is hard to get funding for student loans while studying for the Bar exam, so we thought this would be a great benefit for them. We were happy to hear that the number of participants doubled from last year.”
The Conte Cup began in 2024 as an opening statement competition, continuing a first-year intraschool advocacy tradition at California Western that has existed for more than 15 years, said Clayton Carr, co-director of the Competitive Advocacy Program.
“Named for Professor Mario Conte, who led the law school’s Competitive Advocacy Program for more than 15 years and served as executive director of Federal Defenders of San Diego from 1991 to 2005, the competition gives first-year students early training in the fundamentals of trial advocacy and the skillful presentation of facts,” Carr added.
Giving first-year law students a taste of what is to come
For Carr, seeing first-year students get a taste of the legal world is exciting.
“The competition gives first-year students a challenging fact pattern and asks them to prepare and deliver an opening statement to a panel of judges,” Carr said. “The exercise teaches a foundational advocacy skill: how to tell a persuasive story without making legal argument.
“It also gets students on their feet, gives them meaningful early advocacy experience, and pushes them to try something new. That foundation serves them well if they later pursue one of our celebrated national trial teams or continue across CAP’s other award-winning programs, including Jessup, ADR, and Appellate Advocacy.”
As Carr sees it, the benefit to trial attorneys for this type of competition is meaningful on several levels.
The event offers experienced lawyers the opportunity to give back by sharing real-world experience and insight with the next generation of attorneys, while also strengthening professional relationships and connections within the legal community, Carr added.
“At CWSL CAP, one of our greatest strengths is our alumni network of practicing lawyers in the San Diego community who are actively doing the real work required of practicing lawyers every day,” Carr said. “Their involvement gives our students practical, experience based feedback that helps prepare them to be effective and practice ready lawyers from day one.”
Carr’s wife, Katie Nagler, is the other co-director.
Students happy with the outcome
For the winners, this experience has proven to be well worth it.
“I was really excited to have won,” said third-place winner Carlos Valdovinos. “It was my first time participating in something like this, so I went in with no expectations. Just making it to the finals felt like an accomplishment, and placing was an incredible and unexpected surprise.”
According to Valdovinos, the award will help ease the financial burden of the summer.
“I plan to take classes, and I will also be working with the San Diego Public Defender’s Office, which is an amazing opportunity to contribute to important work I care deeply about,” Valdovinos said.
“Because the position is unpaid, this support will make a real difference in allowing me to focus on both my studies and my internship.”
Valdovinos, who is an immigrant, noted he wants a career in law to help others.
“As an immigrant, I’ve seen firsthand how difficult it can be for non-English-speaking communities to access competent legal representation… My goal is to use my experiences and skills to advocate for and support underserved communities.”
Cynthia Sewah, who came in second, prepared for the competition by studying HHJ Trial Attorneys’ podcast episodes on trial strategy and opening statements.
“I kept going back to them because I wanted to understand what makes an opening statement effective, not just in structure, but in impact,” Sewah said. “Attorney Elliott Jung said in one episode, ‘you have to want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe,’ and that became my mindset throughout the competition.
“Every round felt like one breath closer to the moment I had prepared for, and winning felt like finally exhaling.”
Sewah said this award will directly support her continued legal training and education. This summer, she will be participating in California’s Practical Training of Law Students program with the Law Office of Parag L. Amin in Los Angeles. It is an opportunity to do substantive legal work under attorney supervision and to keep building practical skills outside the classroom.
“It is support at a moment when I am beginning to move from studying the law to practicing it,” Sewah said. “I am deeply grateful not only for the financial help, but for what it represents: an investment in my growth at an important stage of my legal education.”
Sewah added her ultimate goal is to become an attorney whose advocacy clients trust and whose judgment they can rely on.
“I want to be the kind of lawyer who is not only persuasive in the courtroom, but also steady, clear, and deeply dependable outside of it,” Sewah said. “The lawyers I most admire are those who pair strong advocacy with sound judgment and real presence for the people they represent. That is the kind of attorney I hope to become.”
Sebastian Avila said he was shocked to come in first place.
“I got teary-eyed when I saw all my friends applauding me,” Aviles said. “My professor, Shawn Fields, was cheering me on, as he was in attendance too. Most importantly, I felt so much gratitude seeing my fellow classmates that I competed against (quite literally) giving me my flowers. California Western’s community is so encouraging of one another; the selfless of my peers and their friendship has been one of the most rewarding aspects of law school journey thus far.
“My tentative plan is to accomplish five years as a prosecutor and five years as a public defender, which I hope will provide me the foundation to eventually take the bench as a Superior Court Judge.”
Avila said he looks forward to someday serving Southern California as a public servant in criminal law.
“Not only winning after all the work I put into the competition but also making my classmates proud meant a great deal to me,” he added. “The amount of support that HHJ poured into this competition, both organizationally and monetarily, is absolutely beyond generous.”
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