RALEIGH – After sweeping the 2023 National Trial Competition (NTC) – Region V, Campbell Law School advocates are once again heading to the NTC, announced Director of Competitive Advocacy Mary Ann Matney ‘17.
Third-year law students Sydney Kraft and Susannah Horton were coached to victory by Maria Hawkins ‘12 and will advance to the 49th annual National Trial Competition where they will compete in April in San Antonio, Texas, along with other regional winners. Kraft also won Best Direct Examination. The team’s trip to Texas is proudly sponsored by Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP.
The other Campbell Law team, made up of third-year law students Will Sparks and Brandon Minella and second-year law student Mollie Sells and coached by Jacob Morse ‘17, finished as finalists.
“I’m extremely proud of our teams from Campbell and enjoyed coaching with my prior NTC advocate turned litigator Jacob Morse,” Hawkins wrote on social media.
The regional competition was held Feb. 2-4 at William and Mary Law School.
Teams from the following law schools competed:
- University of South Carolina
- Wake Forest University
- University of North Carolina
- Elon University
- Duke University
- Campbell University
- North Carolina Central University
- University of Richmond
- Regent 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 said last year when Campbell Law hosted the NTC Regional Competition. “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.”
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 4,800 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2024, Campbell Law is celebrating 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.