If you were in the Bexar County Courthouse during the day on March 26th or 27th, then you probably noticed the invasion of law students upon the courthouse grounds. San Antonio was proud to host the 34th Annual National Trial Competition, which is sponsored annually by the Texas Young Lawyers Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers. This competition is the preeminent mock trial competition and brought law students, lawyers, and judges from across the country.

The National Trial Competition was established in 1975 for purposes of encouraging and strengthening law students' advocacy skills. TYLA has strived to enable these law student competitors to gain invaluable experience through a quality competition filled with interaction with members of the bench and bar. Just like clinical programs found in most law schools, the NTC is designed to supplement a law student's education with hands-on experience in as close of a trial setting as they can be exposed to prior to being licensed.

San Antonio's local county courthouses were the sites for the preliminary and quarterfinal rounds. A total of 15 trials were held on Thursday and Friday morning, with 4 trials held Friday afternoon during the Quarterfinal round. The semifinal and final rounds were hosted in San Antonio's Federal Bankruptcy courtrooms.

The Texas Young Lawyers Association, American College of Trial Lawyers and San Antonio Young Lawyers Association would like to thank all of our local lawyers and staff who volunteered to be witnesses and/or judges during the competition. We would especially like to thank our local judges, courtroom staff, and district and county court coordinators who assisted with securing courtroom space during this competition. Most of the judges who generously donated their courtrooms worked from their jury rooms and/or chambers in order to allow our competitors to present in a real courtroom! The praise San Antonio has received for this year's competition has been extraordinary and it is all due to the generosity of time, talent, and courtroom space provided by our local bench and bar! Thank you for all the support and now drum roll please…

And the winner was....

Baylor Law School (Team A) : Joel Bailey and Eric Policastro

Finalist Teams

Baylor Law School (Team A)

University of Kentucky

Best Oral Advocate Award

Christopher E. Schaefer, University of Kentucky

Semi Finalist Teams

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles

University of Georgia School of Law (Team B)

Quarterfinalist Teams

Loyola Chicago School of Law

Temple University Beasley School of Law

University of Georgia School of Law (Team A)

By Priscilla Camacho