Campbell Law advocates defend National Civil Trial Competition (NCTC) title virtually

Campbell Law School advocates — second-year students Kacie Campbell, Melvin Holland, Jennifer Garcia and Caroline Margolis — are set to compete virtually in the National Civil Trial Competition (NCTC) on Nov. 13 – 15, 2020. The team is coached by Jacob Morse ’17, who was awarded Best Advocate at the NCTC finals in 2016 and is a former Top Gun champion.

In 2019, Campbell Law advocates Luke Coates, Courtney Haywood, Kevin Littlejohn and Lydia Stoney went undefeated and brought home the law school’s first NCTC championship.

The Greene Broillet & Wheeler National Civil Trial Competition is hosted by Loyola Law School and is being held virtually for the 2020 competition. Campbell Law’s advocates will be competing in Courtroom 3 which is viewable over YouTube at the following link: https://youtu.be/pHita8_keJo.  This year’s civil mock trial involved the fictitious case, Helena Karter v. Giant Peach Production Company.  The case concerns the estate of a stunt actor suing a production company for failing to adequately protect the actor in the set up of the stunt set prior to filming.  The actor suffered injuries when he jumped off of a stunt balony and later died from his injuries.

The NCTC is a national invitational tournament featuring 16 of the best advocacy programs in the country.  To receive an invitation to NCTC, law schools must demonstrate excellence in mock trial competitions and a commitment to training law students in litigation skills.  NCTC was founded with the purpose of providing law students an opportunity to develop and display the skills of an accomplished civil litigator.  Student advocates must perform opening statements, direct- and cross-examinations of expert and lay witnesses, closing arguments, and adeptly argue objections based on the Federal Rules of Evidence.