National Trial Competition

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.

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2024 Final Competition Materials and Info

  • REVISED 2024 NTC Final Problem – click here (posted 3/17/2024)
  • REVISED Questions & Requests for Clarification 2024 Finals – (emailed  3/17/2024)
  • Congratulations to the 2024 NTC REGIONAL CHAMPIONS & FINAL COMPETITORS! Please click here for a full list of schools.
  • Competition Rules  – click here (updated 10/3/2023)
  • Please click here for Important dates to remember.
  • 2024 NTC Final Problem – click here (posted and emailed 3/1/2024 – revised in the link above) 
  • The finals will take place in Houston, Texas, April 3-6, 2024. Please email Bree Trevino, btrevino@texasbar.com for more information.

2023-2024 Regional Competition Materials and Info

  • Competition Rules  – click here (updated 10/3/2023)

  • UPDATED Regional Problem with amended Exhibit 17 – click here (posted 2/5/2024)

  • REVISED Regional Problem – click here (posted 1/16/2024) Please click here for the email that was sent out regarding the stipulations and clarifications.

  • REVISED Exhibit 17 – click here to download PDF (posted and emailed out 1/22/2024)

  • Regional Problem – click here to download PDF file and click here to download “Exhibit 12” video file (emailed out to participating schools 12/8/2023)

  • Please click here for Important dates to remember.

    Regional competition date and host- click here (updated 12/14/2023 regarding region 12 date)

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 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.

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.

2023-2024 NTC Registration and Fee Info.

  • Register one or two teams by clicking here.  

  • To pay the entry fee by credit card, please click here.

2022-2023 NTC Champion

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