{
    "image": "",
    "content": "<h1>Michael Joyce</h1>\r\n<h4><img src=\"irl://2296//\" alt=\"Photo of Michael\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"300\" />Mike Joyce is on a fast track to a career in the law</h4>\r\n<p>Become a lawyer.</p>\r\n<p>Michael J. Joyce is a few weeks away from checking this major life goal off his list.</p>\r\n<p>Graduating from the University of Scranton in 2017 with a history degree, Joyce moved without a break&nbsp; to law school, a dream he&rsquo;d had since his days at Lansdale Catholic High School. He was ready, having polished his debate skills in college with the pre-law society and mock trial team. He will be the first lawyer in his family.</p>\r\n<p>Drawn to Widener University Commonwealth Law School for its proximity to the Pennsylvania State Capital and its manageable size, Joyce immediately felt at home on the Harrisburg campus.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;Law school has been what I had hoped it would be. I&rsquo;ve always found debate interesting and I&rsquo;ve had the opportunity here to do so much of it, including winning the <a href=\"https://www.atlac.org/mock-trial-competition\">Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County Annual Academy Mock Trial</a> competition with my trial partner, fourth-year Amoreena (Amy) Bua, in February,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p><img src=\"irl://2294//\" alt=\"Photo of Mike with the winning mock trial team and their coaches\" style=\"float: right;\" width=\"300\" />Joyce talked passionately about his experience with mock trial while at Widener Law Commonwealth, saying it is the closest he&rsquo;ll get to trying an actual case until he does his first one. Arguing a nursing home negligent fall case before federal judges in a court room in the Joseph F. Weis, Jr. Federal Courthouse in Pittsburgh was stressful, he said. His initial performance, a direct examination of a witness, got off to a rocky start, but he settled down by focusing on the case, for which he had spent hours preparing. &nbsp;</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;The objections especially can throw you off,&rdquo; Joyce said. &ldquo;We practiced them beforehand, working on even the craziest ones, just in case. We threw a lot at the opposing counsel, too. They overcame one I thought would go our way and got a document admitted. But when I got that witness on cross examination, she floundered anyway, so we got where we needed to go,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>In addition to his participation in the mock trial program, Joyce is a member of the <a href=\"ipl://220//W10=////\">Trial Advocacy Honor Society</a> and the executive managing editor of the <a href=\"ipl://222//W10=////\">Widener Commonwealth Law Review</a>.</p>\r\n<p>Joyce&rsquo;s work on the law review has included the summer write on competition and overseeing the annual survey of Pennsylvania&rsquo;s administrative law cases. His survey &ndash; on Department of Transportation cases -- will be published in this spring&rsquo;s edition. He has also served as the head of a five-member team tracking tort case decisions in all 50 states and the federal courts for Widener Law Commonwealth <a href=\"ipl://35//WyIyNiJd////\">Professor Christopher J. Robinette</a>, who is an editor of a leading torts treatise, <em>Harper, James &amp; Gray on Torts</em>, and an advisor to the <em>Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Concluding Provisions</em>.</p>\r\n<p>Joyce has also worked as an Academic Support Fellow to <a href=\"ipl://35//WyIyNSJd////\">Professor Susan Raeker-Jordan</a> in her civil procedure class. He said he liked helping first years get to the &ldquo;Oh, I get it&rdquo; moment.</p>\r\n<p>He has also worked as a Widener Law Commonwealth Student Ambassador, giving campus tours and making himself available to interested and admitted students.</p>\r\n<p>For now, like everyone else, Joyce is facing the disruption and uncertainly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;We were supposed to have one more trial for the trial advocacy honor society, which has now been cancelled. And the graduation ceremony itself is up in the air,&rdquo; Joyce said. As class valedictorian, he is scheduled to give an address, which he continues to work on regardless.</p>\r\n<p>&ldquo;Whether I get to give the speech in May or not, I will write about Ignatius of Loyola, who encouraged us to go forth and set the world on fire. In a good way,&rdquo; he said.</p>\r\n<p>Joyce hopes he can start his own fire in the world in September, when he is scheduled to begin a one-year clerkship for <a href=\"https://courts.delaware.gov/superior/aboutus/judges_profile_jmedinilla.aspx\">Judge Vivian L. Medinilla</a> of the Delaware Superior Court, that state&rsquo;s trial court.</p>\r\n<p><em>Interview was conducted in Spring 2020.</em></p>",
    "box_content": "<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\">Contact Information<br /><br /></h5>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Admissions Office&nbsp;<br /></strong><strong>Phone:</strong> 717.541.3903<br /><strong>Fax:&nbsp;</strong>717.541.3999<br /><strong>Email:</strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:admitcwlaw@widener.edu\">admitcwlaw@widener.edu</a>&nbsp;</p>\r\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><br />CONNECT WITH US!<br /><br /></strong><a title=\"Follow us on Facebook\" href=\"https://facebook.com/widenerlawcommonwealth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"irl://639//\" alt=\"Facebook Logo\" height=\"30\" width=\"30\" /></a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a title=\"Follow us on Twitter @WidenerLawCW\" href=\"https://twitter.com/widenerlawcw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"irl://645//\" alt=\"Twitter Logo\" height=\"30\" width=\"30\" /></a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a title=\"Follow us on Instagram @WidenerLawCW\" href=\"https://www.instagram.com/widenerlawcw/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"irl://1755//\" alt=\"Instagram Logo\" height=\"30\" width=\"30\" /></a><br /><br /></h5>"
}