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 Fulbright & Jaworski. Beck Redden LLP presents a $5,000 award to the second place team, and each semifinalist team is awarded $1,500 by Polsinelli PC. The Best Oral Advocate is awarded the George A. Spiegelberg Award, donated by Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. The Hon. Lewis F. Powell medallion is presented annually to each regional finalist in the National Trial Competition, as a tribute to the accomplishments of those individuals.

The finals for the National Trial Competition will be held in San Antonio, TX, March 27-31, 2019

Regional Problem - posted Nov. 19, 2018 (Please contact the NTC Coordinator if you would like the PDF file emailed to you.)

Beginning with the 2019 NTC Regional Competitions, the NTC committee has realigned the regions. Please see below:

NTC Regional Breakdown and Host Information - updated Oct. 5, 2018
The link above reflects all ABA-accredited law schools in each of the 15 regions. This is not a list of schools registered; only a list of schools that are eligible to compete in each region. If you do not see your school listed please contact the NTC Coordinator. The Regional Hosts are in bold.

Important Dates - posted Sept. 28, 2018
Competition Rules - updated Sept. 28, 2018
Regional Host Contact Info and Competition Dates - updated Nov. 19, 2018 (also see NTC Regional Breakdown above)
Host Handbook (and Appendix) - posted Sept. 28, 2018

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.

Master Scoring Ballot for Preliminary Rounds
NTC Official Scoring Ballot
Scoring Criteria
Judges' Instructions
Bailiffs' Guidelines and Instruction Sheet
Bailiffs' Time Keeping Sheet

CONGRATULATIONS to the 2018 National Champion team from Wake Forest University School of Law (NTC Team 27). Please click here for a list of the results from the competition in Austin, April 4-8, 2018.

Archived Information

Click here to view the National Trial Competition Champions

Click here to view the National Trial Competition - Past Problem Archive