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 140 law schools and involves more than 1,000 law students each year.
The Kraft W. Eidman Award is presented by the American College of Trial Lawyers, 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, and each semifinalist team is awarded $1,500 by Polsinelli. The Best Oral Advocate Award is awarded the George A. Spiegelberg Award, donated by Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. The Hon. Lewis F. Powell, Jr. medallion is presented annually to each regional finalist in the National Trial Competition, as a tribute to the accomplishments of those individuals.
Thank you to Prairie Nation Creative, LLC for creating this impactful and meaningful video that captures the value and memories of this prestigious competition. By taking part in the competition, every competitor will not only become a better attorney upon graduation from law school, but will also learn what it means to zealously advocate for your client while exhibiting the civility and professionalism that makes our profession great.
For updates, please follow us on Facebook!
2023-2024 NTC Registration and Fee Info. – NOW OPEN
Register one or two teams by clicking here.
To pay the entry fee by credit card, please click here.
- Please click here for Important dates to remember.
2023-2024 Regional Competition Info.
- Find your school’s regional competition date and host by clicking here (updated 10/3/2023)
- Don’t know your school’s region number? Click here.
Regional Competition Materials
- 2023-2024 Competition Rules – click here (updated 10/3/2023)
- Regional Breakdown – click here to find out what region your school falls in and what school is hosting the regional competition. *If you do not see your school listed, please let me know as soon as possible.
- Regional Map
WITNESSES
Regional hosts will be free to decide how to handle witnesses, according to the options in the rules, but 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 begin on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
Information for Regional Hosts
- 2023-2024 Competition Rules – click here (updated 10/3/2023)
- 2023-2024 Host Handbook for regional competitions- click here.
- Ten Tips for Trial by Zoom
- Regional Protest Report – coming soon
Witness, Judge, and Bailiff Instruction Videos – Please use the links below to the instructional videos for each region to instruct your volunteer witnesses, judges 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 Judges 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
- NTC Judges Guidelines
- NTC Witness Guidelines
- NTC Bailiffs’ Guidelines
- Bailiffs’ Time Keeping Sheet (optional)
2022-2023 NTC Champions
UCLA School of Law (Team 104)
Please click here to view the 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
