RALEIGH — Campbell Law School’s third-year students Adia McLaughlin, Genesis Torres, Ashton Makey and second-year student Mackenzie Stanley competed in the South Texas Mock Trial Challenge from March 23-26, 2023.
The competition was hosted by South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas. This year’s competition problem involved a comparative fault wrongful death trial related to a highway accident. Forty-eight law school teams from across the nation competed in the tournament.
McLaughlin, Torres and Stanley advocated masterfully as attorneys flipping between each round, representing both sides, often on the same day, according to their coaches. The team was proudly coached by Dan Tilly, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Tatiana Terry ’19 of Hedrick Garner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP and Miriam Sheppard ’22, Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Adam M. Conrad.
Campbell Law marched through the first three preliminary rounds, and the later advanced rounds, finishing as National Quarterfinalists. In addition to their team success, McLaughlin was awarded a coveted trophy for being one of the Top 10 best advocates in the competition out of more than 200 student trial lawyers.
The competition required enormous intensity given the short time between the case file release and the trial competition’s first round. Coaches Tilly, Terry and Sheppard said they were tremendously impressed with the fortitude and skill the team demonstrated.
“This group of student lawyers represent the very best of Campbell Law trial advocates,” Tilly said. “They stepped up, jumped in and then walked in ready to go on short notice. They won trial after trial while improving and adjusting every day. This Campbell Law team represents the kind of tenacity, talent and intellect we are known for producing.”
Terry echoed Tilly’s sentiments adding, “These ladies are stellar advocates through and through. They gave up spring break, weekends and nights to be ready to defeat the best teams in the nation. Seeing the team triumph – and Adia recognized as among the finest in the country – is tremendously rewarding.”
The team added they were enormously grateful for the support of the faculty and staff who aid in making opportunities like these possible.
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 more than 4,700 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