RALEIGH – After sweeping the National Trial Competition (NTC) – Region V, two teams of Campbell Law School advocates are advancing to the 48th annual National Trial Competition (NTC) on March 29-April 2 in San Antonio, Texas.
Team 1 was made up of second-year law students Sydney Kraft, Brandon Minella and William Sparks. Their team is proudly coached by Maria Hawkins ‘12. Kraft was named Best Overall Advocate after the Preliminary Rounds – sweeping every best advocate ballot in every preliminary trial. She was then named Most Outstanding Advocate in her championship round.
Team 2 was comprised of third-year law students Christopher Stock, Christian Allred and Megan Von Canon. They are proudly coached by Chamberlain Collier ‘20. Stock was named as one of nine outstanding advocates after the preliminary rounds and then was named as the most outstanding advocate in his championship round.
Campbell Law’s two championship teams now advance to the NTC National Competition where they will compete in San Antonio, Texas, along with other regional winners.
The Campbell Law advocacy program hosted teams from virtually every law school in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The regional competition, which ran from Feb. 17-19, 2023, was held at the Wake County Courthouse on Friday and Saturday and the law school’s Boyce Advocacy Center on Sunday afternoon.
The event was proudly sponsored by Ward and Smith PA, Poyner Spruill LLP and Hutchens law firms.
Teams from the following law schools competed:
- University of South Carolina
- William & Mary
- Wake Forest University
- University of North Carolina
- Elon University
- Duke University
- Campbell University
- North Carolina Central University
- Richmond University
“The Texas Young Lawyers’ Association National Trial Competition is one of the premier law school mock trial competitions in the country with the vast majority of law schools competing in their regionals. NTC employs a unique format. It requires trial advocates to be nimble – developing sound cases, employing the rules of evidence, and being persuasive advocates. NTC adds another unique element. Lawyers only meet their witness just prior to the start of trial,” Campbell Law Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Dan Tilly, who is the interim Director of Competitive Advocacy, told the teams’ coaches at their welcome meeting on Friday.
“The goal of the NTC is to provide student advocates with trials and witnesses that resemble what they may experience as new lawyers in trials where depositions for every witness just aren’t feasible,” he said. “We hope to replicate for student advocates a courtroom environment that is unpredictable and requires both poise, intellect, and persuasive skills.”
In an effort to thank the large number of volunteers needed for the competition, volunteer judges were eligible to receive one hour of CLE credit from the North Carolina Bar for each volunteer hour as a judge for up to 12.5 CLE credits, said Campbell Law’s Wallace Leadership Fellow Jamie Bellomy.
TYLA administers the competition, which attracts teams from more than 140 law schools and involves more than 1,000 law students each year.
The Hon. Lewis F. Powell medallion is presented annually to each regional finalist in the National Trial Competition, as a tribute to the accomplishments of those individuals.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL
Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion, and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others. Among its accolades, the school has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. Campbell Law boasts more than 4,700 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2024, Campbell Law will celebrate 45 years of graduating legal leaders and 15 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.