The National Trial Competition (NTC) was established in 1975 to encourage and strengthen students’ advocacy skills through quality competition and valuable interaction with members of the bench and bar. The program is co-sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) and is designed to expose law students to the nature of trial practice and to serve as a supplement to their education. It is the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) intent to provide a meaningful contribution to the development of future trial lawyers.
TYLA administers the competition, which attracts teams from more than 150 law schools and involves more than 1,000 law students each year.
The Kraft W. Eidman Award is presented by ACTL, and consists of $10,000 to the winning school and a plaque to each member of the winning team. This very generous contribution is endowed by Norton Rose Fulbright. Beck Redden LLP presents a $5,000 award to the second place team, Shipley Snell Montgomery LLP presents a $1500 award to each of the semifinalist teams and the George A. Spiegelberg, Best Trial Advocacy Award is donated by Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP. The Hon. Lewis F. Powell, Jr. medallion is presented annually to each regional finalist, as a tribute to the accomplishments of those individuals. The NTC Professionalism and Civility Award, sponsored by the Professionalism and Civility Committee of the State Bar of Texas is an award that is voted on by the competitors, and it goes to the team that consistently demonstrates professional courtesy and civility, as exemplified in the Texas Lawyers Creed, throughout the competition.
Thank You to Our 2025 Sponsors
2025-2026 NTC Registration and Fee Info.
- Register one or two teams by clicking here. (Registration is open! If you have any questions, please contact Bree Trevino.)
- To pay the entry fee, please click here. (please see Important Dates for deadline info)
2025-2026 Regional Competition Materials and Info
- Please click here for Important Dates to Remember.
- Regional competition dates and host- Click here
- Don’t know your school’s region number? Click here
- Regional Map
WITNESSES
Regional hosts will be free to decide how to handle witnesses, according to the options in the rules, but please be aware that teams advancing to the finals in Texas will be required to bring witnesses for the witness pool. Please note that the final competition in Texas will have 4 preliminary rounds and begins on Wednesday, April 6, 2026.
Information for Regional Hosts
- 2025-2026 Competition Rules – click here
- 2025-2026 Host Handbook for regional competitions- click here.
Witness and Bailiff Instruction Videos – Please use the links below to the instructional videos for each region to instruct your volunteer witnesses and bailiffs. We recommend all hosts watch the videos as well to be aware of the instructions in case of a need for clarification or a protest.
- Link to view or download Witnesses Instructional Video
- Link to view or download Bailiffs Instructional Video
Intra-School Competition Materials
Although the method used to select your school’s team(s) is left to you, we recommend that an intra-school competition be used to choose the regional participants. To help you with your intra-school competition, we have included materials used at the regional and national levels.
- NTC Official Scoring Ballot and Scoring Criteria (updated Jan. 2025)
- NTC Judges Guidelines
- NTC Witness Information and Guidelines – (updated Sept. 2024)
- NTC Bailiffs’ Guidelines
Congratulations to the 2025 National Champion:
St. John’s University School of Law (NTC Team #129)
Team Members: Jack Adams, Agustin Bujanda and Jared Rios
Coaches: Marlee Galvez, Brian Hughes and Michael Maffei
The finals took place in Houston, Texas, April 2-5, 2025. Congratulations to all of the schools who advanced! For a full list of the results, please click here.
2025 Final Competition Materials and Info
- Bailiffs’ Time Keeping Sheet (optional)
