RALEIGH – A team of Campbell Law School advocates is once again headed to the American Association for Justice (AAJ) Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC) National Finals after competing March 6-9 at the Wake County Courthouse.
Samantha Border ‘25, Beau Marlette ‘25, Megan Pope ‘25 and Alex Urban ‘25 will represent Campbell Law in the National Finals April 3-6 in Atlanta, Georgia, 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.
Campbell Law’s other competing team, made up of second-year advocates Paige Klink, Hailey LaRock, Thomas Lotito and Julia Smith, also made it to the final round. They were proudly coached by alumnus J. Patrick Williams ‘05.
“Two Campbell Law teams represented Campbell Law School well in the regional AAJ Student Trial Advocacy Competition, with both successfully earning their spots into the final round,” said René Shekmer, director of competitive advocacy for Campbell Law. “We would like to thank all of our alumni judges and other volunteers for helping us make this event a success. And a big thanks to our co-hosts. We could not have done it without you!”
Schools competing in the AAJ STAC Regionals, co-hosted by Campbell Law, Raleigh’s Milberg Law firm and the University of South Carolina law school, were:
- Barry University
- Campbell University – 2 teams
- Charleston School of Law
- Emory University
- Elon University
- Florida International University
- Georgia State University
- Lincoln Memorial University
- Mercer University
- Stetson University
- St. Thomas University
- University of South Carolina – 2 teams
- University of Georgia
- Wake Forest University
Each year, AAJ hosts the STAC, showcasing top future trial lawyers. This tournament is one of the premier trial advocacy competitions in the country. Regional tournaments are held across the nation, and the two winners of each region then compete in the National Finals. The winning team members are also invited to join AAJ at its annual convention in July.
“Participating in STAC was one of the greatest experiences I had in law school,” added Stoney, who was a member of Campbell Law’s National Champion STAC 2019 team. Our team had an amazing time traveling to the AAJ National Convention in San Diego and representing Campbell Law while networking with attorneys from across the country.”
In the STAC Southeast 1 Region, Campbell Law and Florida International University College of Law advocates were this year’s winners.
“Campbell’s Team 2 put up a valiant fight against Florida International’s team and far exceeded expectations for 2Ls,” Shekmer added.
The 2025 Regional Tournament was a hybrid model. There were two virtual regions along with in-person regions in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Denver, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco in addition to Raleigh.
The competition this year involves a trial of a civil lawsuit. AAJ is proud to partner with the National Association of Legal Advocacy Educators (NALAE) to host STAC.
The other winning schools of the Regional Tournaments advancing to the National Championship are:
- Chicago Region: Cumberland School of Law Samford University and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
- D.C. Region: American University Washington College of Law and University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
- Denver Region: South Texas College of Law Houston and University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- Houston Region: Baylor University School of Law and University of Texas School of Law
- New York City Region: Brooklyn Law School and New York University School of Law
- Philadelphia Region: Syracuse University College of Law and University of Akron School of Law
- San Francisco Region: Loyola Marymount University Loyola Law School and University of California College of the Law, San Francisco
- Virtual ET Region: Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law and Mercer University School of Law
- Virtual MT Region: University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, Team 1 and 2.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW SCHOOL
Since its founding in 1986, 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 nearly 5,000 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2024, Campbell Law celebrated 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.