Dunn,+Christopher

Although now a teacher of Latin, I have a background in the law. I practiced landlord/tenant and collections law for three years. I was not a competitor in debate as a high school student, but I participated in mock trial and am experienced in judging LD, this being my third year of judging.

Keeping track of the flow is most important to me. As such, I am not a fan of spreading, although I certainly understand why LD debaters do it. Speed does not bother me as long as I am able to flow both sides' values, criteria, and arguments. With a detailed map of the debate I can then make the choice that I would in a real-world context (based solely on the arguments, putting my personal views on an issue aside, but that should go without saying), and choose the winner. A particularly important part of my judgment is that both sides respond to all of the opponent's arguments, showing good listening and adaptive skills.

I will almost never intervene during the debate. I will never ask you to slow down; if I miss your arguments, that will be to the benefit of the debater who has a stronger case based on what I have heard.