RALEIGH — Class of 2019 Campbell Law graduate Tatiana Terry has been selected to compete in the 2019 Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition at Baylor Law School.
Terry has distinguished herself during her time at Campbell Law, on the winning team in five advocacy tournaments. This year Terry and her teammates won the regional and national championship at the National Black Law Student Association (NBLSA) Constance Baker Motley Mock Trial Competition. She and teammate Katie Webb also secured a regional and a national title at the American Bar Association (ABA) Client Counseling competition and went on to win the Brown Mosten International Client Consultation Competition in Dublin, Ireland.
Along with her success in mock trial, Terry has also served as Honor Court justice, president of the Campbell Law Innocence Project and vice president of the Campbell Law BLSA. She was also named the inaugural Eva Clayton Fellow, where she volunteered numerous hours assisting with voter registration efforts and helping at polling places across the region, Tilly said.
Top Gun advocates are permitted to have one fellow advocate working as co-counsel through out the competition. This year, Hannah Wallace has been chosen to join Terry in the competition. Wallace is an outstanding advocate in her own right having finished at the top of mock trial and moot court competitions across the country.
This will mark the 10th anniversary of the Top Gun Competition and the fifth time Campbell Law has secured an invitation as one of the top advocacy law school in the country, Tilly explained. Campbell Law has finished in the final four twice — Drew Shores ’13, Kaitlin Rothecker ‘15 and won the competition once — Jacob Morse ’17. Morse has coached Terry in previous mock trial competitions.
Top Gun is a head-to-head, winner-take-all competition among the best advocates from the 16 top trial advocacy schools across the nation. Unlike other mock trial competitions, participants do not receive case files until 24 hours before the first round of trials begin.
The short amount of preparation given includes reviewing depositions, records, photographs and taking trips to the actual places where events in the hypothetical case occurred. Shortly before each round, competitors are assigned a witness or witnesses who may be used at participants’ discretion during the round. Jurors for each round are distinguished trial lawyers and judges.
The National Top Gun Mock Trial Competition is limited to 16 law schools. Previously only a single student represented each school, however, the competition now allows for one additional student to serve as co-counsel. Baylor Law, as the organizing institution, does not field a team.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated Jacob Morse was coaching Terry in this year’s Top Gun competition. While Morse has coached her in the past, he is not actively participating as a coach in next month’s competition in Waco, Texas.
ABOUT CAMPBELL LAW
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 4,200 alumni, who make their home in nearly all 50 states and beyond. In 2019, Campbell Law will celebrate 40 years of graduating legal leaders and 10 years of being located in a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of North Carolina’s Capital City.