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 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 will 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
- UPDATED 2025 National Problem – click here to download (only one correction to page 11 – emailed and posted 3/26/25)
- UPDATED 2025 National Problem – click here to download (posted and emailed* out March 17, 2025) *clarifications memo and an adobe compare report also emailed.
- 2025 National Problem – click here to download (posted and emailed out Feb. 26, 2025)
- Competition Rules – click here (updated September 2024)
- Please click here for Important dates to remember.
- Witnesses
Teams advancing to the finals in Texas will be required to bring witnesses for the witness pool. The final competition in Texas will have 4 preliminary rounds that will begin on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
2024-2025 Regional Competition Materials and Info
- UPDATED Regional Problem – click here (posted Jan. 13)
Clarifications Memo regarding the case balance, feedback and updates. - Regional Problem – click here (posted Dec. 6)
To ensure all feedback is one place, schools should please use this form, rather than contacting the authors directly. Deadline is Jan. 3 - Please click here for Important dates to remember.
- Regional competition dates and host- Click here (updated Dec. 6)
- Don’t know your school’s region number? Click here (updated Nov. 5)
- 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 2, 2025.
Information for Regional Hosts
- 2024-2025 Competition Rules – click here (updated Sept. 2024)
- 2024-2025 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
- Bailiffs’ Time Keeping Sheet (optional)
2024-2025 NTC Registration and Fee Info.
- Register one or two teams by clicking here. (Registration has closed. If you have any questions, please contact Bree Trevino.)
- To pay the entry fee by credit card, please click here. (Deadline to pay is Dec. 2)
Please click here to view a list of the full results. Thank you to all the regional champions who competed.
Archived Information
Click here to view the National Trial Competition Champions
Click here to view the National Trial Competition – Past Problem Archive
