TYLA Project

Guns, Alcohol, Wild West Quick Draw Contests, and a Wild Bullet! In April of 2018 TYLA and ACTL Hosted the National Trial Competition in Austin.
By: Tim Williams

Guns, alcohol, Wild West quick draw contests, and a misplaced bullet. They were all part of the storyline when competitors from across the country gathered in Austin for the 2018 National Trial Competition.

More than 300 teams competed for 30 spots in the competition and a chance to spar for the top prize. Only one team could go home victorious.

The National Trial Competition was established in 1975 to encourage and strengthen law students’ advocacy skills through quality competition and to provide valuable interaction with members of the bench and bar. The program is co-sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers and is designed to expose law students to the nature of trial practice. TYLA presents the competition, which attracts teams from more than 140 law schools and involves more than 1,000 law students each year.

Congratulations to Wake Forest University School of Law, whose teams finished both first and second at the National Trial Competition. Wake Forest University School of Law Team #27 (Team Members: Darius Ladetric Lamonte, Tracea Lachelle Rice, and Jonathon Bryant Salmons; Coaches: Mark Boynton and Aindrea Pledger) took home top honors. Congratulations are also in order for Wake Forest’s Zachary Lynn McCamey, who was awarded best oral advocate.

Pictured above:  ACTL President, Sam Franklin, Zach McCamey (3L), Joe Karam (3L), Virginia Stanton (2L), Tracea Rice (2L), Jonathon Salmons (3L), Darius Lamonte (2L), Nick Bedo (3L), Le’Ron Byrd (2L), TYLA President, Baili Rhodes; Mark Boynton (Coach)

Visit the TYLA website to view the full results of the competition and to learn more about NTC.

Tim Williams is a business litigation attorney in Amarillo where he is a member of the firm Sprouse Shrader Smith, PLLC.  Tim sits on the board of the Texas Young Lawyers Association.