Volunteeer Profile: Daniel Boone '90 Coaches Mock Trial Team

It’s been 18 years since Daniel Boone graduated from UC Davis School of Law, but he never really left King Hall.  For the past 15 years—almost as long as he’s been practicing law in the Sacramento region—Boone has been returning to the Law School as a volunteer, coaching the UC Davis National Mock Trial team in preparation for the National Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the Texas Young Lawyers Association.

Born in San Diego, Boone came to King Hall after spending several years in Alaska, where he graduated from college, worked on the Alaskan pipeline, and ran an advertising, public relations, and political consulting business.  Working in politics led to an interest in law, and he came back to California to pursue his degree at King Hall, where he decided to try out for the Mock Trial team.

“Professor Ed Imwinkelried coached the team when I was a student, and I learned so much from him,” said Boone.  “It was such an important part of my legal education that a few years later, when Professor Imwinkelried asked if I would be interested in coaching the team, I agreed, and I’ve been doing it ever since.’”

Over the course of the past 18 years Boone has worked at four different firms in the Sacramento area.  He is currently with the environmental law firm Miller, Axline & Sawyer, handling complex litigation, often representing cities and water districts seeking to recover costs associated with cleaning up groundwater pollution.  Yet despite his busy career as a litigator, Boone has always found time to volunteer.  Beginning with meetings in October and running through intensive practice sessions in January through the February competition, it’s an experience he always treasures.

“From a volunteering point of view, this really has everything,” he said.  “I get an opportunity to catch up with Professor Imwinkelried, one of the leading experts in the world on evidence law and brush up my own knowledge of it.  I have an opportunity to work with King Hall students, who are astonishingly bright, enthusiastic, and committed, and I get to see how their skills grow every step of the way.”

Several times under Boone’s leadership, including last year, the UC Davis team has advanced to the National Competition in Texas, but no matter what the outcome has been, he enjoys seeing the growth students experience.  “Every year, sitting in the audience at the regional competition, there is always a moment when I realize how far they’ve come since we started meeting back in the fall,” said Boone.

Boone deserves thanks for much of that progress, Professor Imwinkelried said.  “Every year, despite his busy litigation practice, Mr. Boone generously donates his time to coach our teams,” said Imwinkelried.   “In large part due to his efforts, participation on the team is a superb education experience for our student advocates.”