RALEIGH — Campbell Law School’s Samantha Border ‘25 has been selected to compete in the 2025 Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition in June, hosted by Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas, Dean J. Rich Leonard has announced.
This is the 16th Top Gun Competition and Campbell Law is the only North Carolina school on the distinguished list of competitors.
This Top Gun Competition is Campbell Law’s 11th time securing an invitation to this prestigious tournament. Previously, Campbell Law has had two final four finishes by Andrew Shores ’13 and Kaitlin Rothecker ’15, and two championship victories by Jacob Morse ’17 and Tatiana Terry ’19.
Terry will serve as Border’s coach. Hailey LaRock ‘26 will accompany Border to the competition, said Director of Competitive Advocacy Rene Shekmer.
The competition is an innovative, invitation-only mock trial tournament where the single best advocates from the 16 top trial advocacy schools across the nation (based on results from the other major national competitions) go head-to-head for the honor of being designated as “Top Gun.” The competition also boasts the use of advanced trial presentation software and a winner-take-all prize of $10,000.
Border and Megan Pope ‘25, who were coached by Maria Hawkins ‘12, were finalists in the National Trial Competition (NTC) Regionals, where Border earned her first Outstanding Advocate Award.
In March, Border’s team advanced to the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC) National Finals in Atlanta after being undefeated March 6-9 at the Wake County Courthouse after beating teams from Wake Forest University law school in the semi-finals and Barry University in the final round. The team was proudly coached to victory by alumna Lydia Stoney ‘20 and Casey Peaden ‘17, both of whom are in the law school’s Advocacy Hall of Fame. LaRock was part of the second-year team, coached by alumnus J. Patrick Williams ‘05, who also made it to the final round of the competition.
In September 2024, Border and Pope finished as semi-finalists at the National Flash Trial Competition held in San Francisco, California. The team was coached by Brittany Stiltner ’16.
While at Campbell Law, Border interned with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Justice.
Border, who is a native of Ripley, West Virginia, graduated from Duquesne University with a bachelor’s degree in 2020 in Biochemistry and a master’s degree in 2021 in Forensic Science and Law. While at Duquesne, she also served as a teaching assistant, who Instructed, graded, provided constructive feedback, and supervised students through DNA processes for the classes of Forensic Molecular Biology and DNA Methods and Population Genetics. In addition, she was chapter director for Strong Women, Strong Girls from August 2018 through May 2020.
After earning her master’s degree, Border worked in the Kanawha County Public Defender’s Office as an intern and late support staff before coming to Campbell Law. There she completed multiple projects including drafting bond motion, analyzing W. Va Code for reform and researching now scientific uses in the legal field
Top Gun is singular among advocacy competitions – challenging even the most seasoned and skillful mock trial competitors.
Unlike most trial competitions, Top Gun competitors receive case files merely 24 hours before the first round of the competition begins. With just one day, participants must decipher the most important facts of the case after reviewing hundreds of pages of documents in order to prepare for trial. Competition preparation routinely involves reviewing depositions, records and photographs and analyzing crime scenes or events where the realistic but hypothetical case occurred. Advocates are also assigned witnesses who may be used at their discretion. The jurors and judges for each round of the competition are distinguished trial lawyers and judges, which creates an unparalleled degree of realism in the courtroom.
Top Gun was created in 2010 based on and inspired by Baylor Law’s highly-regarded advocacy program and is a competition radically innovative and uniquely distinct. Unlike other mock trial competitions, participants do not receive the case file until they arrive in Waco, a mere 24 hours before the first round of trials begin. Preparation includes reviewing depositions, records, and photographs, and making a site visit to view the scene where the events occurred. Shortly before each round, competitors are assigned the witnesses who may be used at their discretion during the round. The jurors for each round are distinguished trial lawyers and judges.
Baylor Law’s Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition has developed a national reputation for its realism and attention to detail. Each year the case packet contains hundreds of pages of exhibits, including multiple depositions, records, photographs, and videos.
Advocates competing in Top Gun’s semi-final and final rounds have the opportunity to examine top-level witnesses who are real-life experts in their fields. Actual forensic investigators, nationally renowned experts in eyewitness issues, university professors, and more have taken the stand to testify during Top Gun, adding a sense of realism rarely found in mock trial competitions.
The quality of Top Gun’s judges is another hallmark of the competition’s excellence. With over eighty judges (made up of both state and federal judges as well as accomplished trial attorneys) and 36 trials unfolding over the course of five days, the real-life trial experience that these judges bring to the competition creates an unparalleled degree of realism.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL
Since its founding in 1976, Campbell Law School 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 nearly 5,000 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2026, Campbell Law will celebrate 50 years of graduating legal leaders and 17 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.