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)
University of Virginia School of Law
The National Trial Competition Sponsored by:
The Texas Young Lawyers Association
The American College of Trial Lawyers
NATIONAL TRIAL COMPETITION COMMITTEE
Judge Rob Cañas, Co-Chair
Andrew Little, Co-Chair
Alfonso Cabañas, San Antonio
Priscilla Camancho, San Antonio
Krista Chacona, Austin
Thea Dalkalitsis, Dallas
Israel Garcia, San Antonio
Clint Harbour, Austin
Sam Houston, San Antonio
Katherine Howard, Austin
Craft Hughes, Houston
Wendy Humphrey, Lubbock
Jon Jackson, Virginia
Chris Jensen, Amarillo
Tracy LeDuc, Florida
Alyssa Long, San Antonio
LauraMiles-Valdez, Austin
Mitch Murphy, Fort Worth
Erin O’Driscoll, Houston
Freddy Ramos, San Antonio
Lisa Richardson, Austin
Ken Riney, Dallas
Dusty Stockard, Amarillo
Ashley Street, San Antonio
Christine Stroud, Amarillo
Rosalyn Tippett, Dallas
Murray Van Eman, San Antonio
Santos Vargas, San Antonio
Stephen Walker, Houston
Tracy Brown, Director
Bree Trevino, Coordinator
Cori A. Harbour, Executive Committee Director
TYLA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Sylvia A. Cardona, President
Clay B. Scheitzach, Chair
Kirsten Barron Cohoon, Vice President
Cori A. Harbour, President-Elect
David Anderson, Treasurer
Natalie Cobb Koehler, Secretary
C.E. Rhodes, Chair-Elect
WilliamW.Miller, Jr., Immediate Past President
Special Recognition
This Competition would not be possible without the efforts of the following people and organizations:
John J. (Jack) Dalton, Atlanta, Georgia
President, American College of Trial Lawyers
Douglass Farnsley, Louisville, Kentucky
NTC Committee Chair, American College of Trial Lawyers
Dennis Maggi, Irvine, California
Executive Director, American College of Trial Lawyers
Marvin W. Jones – Author of the Regional Problem, State of Lone Star v. Micah
Victor and National Problem, State of Lone Star v. Kelly Taylor
Cori Sorensen, Court Reporting Institute of Houston
