Campbell Law Competitive Advocacy Program kicks off new season with new competitions, victories

Aerial shot of Raleigh Campus

Campbell Law School’s award-winning Competitive Advocacy Program began its fall competition season on Sept. 28, 2022, and some student advocates have already brought home some hard-fought trophies, said Director Tatiana Terry.

Summit Cup Mock Trial Competition

Campbell Law advocates competed in the Summit Cup Mock Trial Competition the weekend of Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2022. The students and their alumni coach traveled to Golden, Colorado, where the competition is hosted annually by the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

The Summit Cup is a national invitational competition honoring the top winning teams from the country’s best trial advocacy programs. Conceived in 2017, the Summit Cup unites every law school program that won a major trial competition in the preceding year.  Campbell Law qualified based upon its 2022 national championship wins at the South Texas Mock Trial Challenge and Estrella Trial Advocacy Competition.

Third-year law students Tiqeece Brown, Christian Lunghi, Christopher Stock and Parker Watson Wooten, and second-year student James Brocker represented Campbell Law in the competition. The team was coached by proud alumnus Daniel Nelson ’21.

Campbell Law has been invited to the Summit Cup every year since its inception in 2017 by winning competitions across the country to qualify for this prestigious tournament. Uniquely, the Summit Cup uses trial lawyers and lay people to serve as scoring jurors, so student advocates get a broad cross-section of feedback and evaluation.

Photo of 2022 Summit Cup Advocates
Summit Cup Advocates

National Pretrial Competition

Campbell Law second-year students Jay Thomas, Emily Skinner, Emma Tillotson and Taylor Norton competed at the National Pretrial Competition regional tournament from Oct. 5-9, 2022. The competition was hosted by Stetson University School of Law. The National Pretrial Competition captures what attorneys do every day in offices and courtrooms across the nation.  Competing teams:

  1. Receive a problem drafted to focus on pretrial issues;
  2. Write two memoranda of law that will be scored;
  3. Make an evidentiary presentation through examination of two witnesses on each side; and
  4. Make a legal argument based on the evidence presented, arguments made and precedent cited in the memoranda of law.

“Our Campbell Law team finished as quarterfinalists and also received recognition as the most professional team amongst the competing schools,” said Terry. The team was proudly coached by Campbell Law alumna and former Wallace Advocacy Fellow Brittany Stiltner ’16.

Pretrial Advocates

Civil Rights Mock Trial Competition

Four days later, a Campbell Law trial team traveled to Sacramento, California, and competed in the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) National Civil Rights Mock Trial Competition. Second-year law students Brandon Minella, Sydney Kraft, Riya Bhatt and Austin Tomlin represented Campbell Law in the competition. This marks the first time Campbell Law has been selected to compete in the esteemed competition.

The MLK Mock Trial Competition honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an international leader in the pursuit of civil rights, equality, and education (to say the least), by utilizing fact patterns rooted in civil rights issues. The case file for the 2022 MLK Competition involved a college student’s First Amendment claim against her university after a protest. This civil rights fact pattern presented multiple issues and allowed litigants to choose two of six potential witnesses.

They faced teams from UCLA, William & Mary and Brooklyn Law School in the preliminary rounds.  “Our team swept their preliminary opponents handily,” Terry said. “In the preliminary rounds, they finished as semifinalists – a terrific result.  The team was proudly coached by Maria Hawkins (’12).”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) National Civil Rights Mock Trial Competition Advocates

All-Star Bracket Challenge

During the same week, Campbell Law fielded a team at the All-Star Bracket Challenge. A team of second-year students, Gibson Caudill, Jenna Geltman, Seth Gulledge and Brian Hedrick represented Campbell Law in the competition. The team was coached by Chamberlain Collier ’20.

This tournament features 66 teams from 66 different law schools hosted by 12 universities across the nation. “Each team competed in four preliminary trials and our team hand a fantastic showing, narrowly missing the break,” Terry explained. “As always, with every team coached by Chamberlain Collier, the team mascot Max Collier wasn’t far behind!”

Photo of All-Star Bracket Challenge Team with Coach Chamberlain Collier '20 in the middle.
All-Star Bracket Challenge Advocates pose with Coach Chamberlain Collier ’20 in the middle.

National Criminal Trial Advocacy Competition (NCTAC)

Four days later, a Campbell Law trial team traveled to San Francisco, California, and competed in the National Criminal Trial Advocacy Competition (NCTAC). Third-year law students Christian Allred and Megan Von Canon, and second-year law students Adela Mann and Rachel Parent represented Campbell Law in the competition. The competition was hosted by the California Attorney’s for Criminal Justice (CACJ). This marks the first time Campbell Law has been selected to compete in the esteemed competition.

CACJ’s annual NCTAC has quickly become known for its excellence and competitors hail from some of the best trial advocacy programs in the nation. Each year, federal and state judges, as well as some of the most skilled criminal trial lawyers in California volunteer to judge this competition. The fact pattern provides competitors with the opportunity to prepare and hone their trial skills using case materials modeled after a real-world criminal case file. “After a tremendous showing in the preliminary rounds, our team just missed the break to the qualifying rounds,” Terry explained.

NCTAC Advocates

Richard Lord Moot Court Competition

Back in Raleigh, the Old Kivett Advocacy Council held the annual Richard Lord Moot Court Competition that same weekend. After a thrilling weekend of team competing all throughout the law school, second-year students Lynn Johnson and Matt Couch arose victorious as the champions! Sarah Summa and Jason White finished as finalists, with Couch and Johnson also being recognized as winners of the Best Brief award. The Rick Edmundson Award, was awarded to Brian Hedrick, who received an almost perfect score on his oral argument.

“What a busy month in the world of competitive advocacy, and we aren’t finished yet,” Terry added. “Best of luck to our next team, the Hofstra Medical Legal Mock Trial Competition team, slated to travel to New York on Oct. 20, 2022.”