[Law26] 1L Kilpatrick Mock Trial Competition

[Matney, Mary A]

1L Students,

I hope you all are having a great winter break and are finding some time to relax after exams! Campbell Law's Competitive Advocacy Program encourages your participation in the 2024 Kilpatrick-Townsend 1L Mock Trial Competition that will be held by UNC Law in January. Each year, this trial competition is hosted by UNC Chapel Hill School of Law (usually at their university in Chapel Hill, NC). Traditionally, our 1L students have been the largest group of student advocates in the competition.  Last year, six Campbell Law students returned as Champions: Kendall Barbour, Megan Pope, Olivia Reiff, Mollie Sells,  Julia Smith, and Zannah Tyndall! This year, we are excited to defend the title. You can read about their success here: https://news.campbell.edu/campbell-law-advocates-make-history-at-unc-laws-kilpatrick-townsend-1l-mock-trial-competition/.

The competition is a tremendous opportunity to represent Campbell Law and a great way to see if a career in advocacy, is something you want to pursue as a second-year law student.  Here are the details (please read the information below carefully):

The Competition

  *   All 1L students attending any North Carolina law school may participate in the 1L Kilpatrick Mock Trial Competition. Students may register in teams of four and will play the roles of both attorneys and witnesses in a mock civil or criminal case. Eight teams advance to the quarterfinal round, four to the semifinal round, and two to the final round. The competition will be held January 26-28, 2024.

  *   Each team member will direct one witness, cross-examine one witness, and conduct either an opening statement or closing argument. Campbell Law's Advocacy Program will host information sessions designed to instruct you on the basics of doing each in short tutorials. I will send the competition materials to registered participants once they are released from the competition.

Preparation

  *   Because Kilpatrick is intended primarily as a novice competition, no previous mock trial experience is required or expected. Any coaching of teams (faculty or adjunct) is strictly prohibited. However, the Campbell Law advocacy department is permitted to offer a few information sessions (as mentioned above). These sessions will cover trial fundamentals including opening statements, closing arguments, direct and cross-examinations, and a very basic overview of a few rules of evidence. Additional information about these same trial fundamentals is always included in each year's competition packet. The Campbell Law information sessions will be held the week of January 15th.  More information on the specific days and times of the information sessions will follow after teams sign up.

How to Sign Up

  *   Students compete in teams of four. Thus, pick three other people with whom you work well and form your team. You may register your team online at: https://forms.gle/ZBB77nAxUAETY6iz9. One person from your team should complete the form and include all the information for the four team members. You must indicate the names of your teammates and their email addresses in the online form. However, if you don't have a team or have fewer than four team members, sign up and we will work to pair you; in this situation, mark the box that states you are still looking for teammates. The sign-up deadline is January 12, 2024 (although we strongly encourage you to sign up sooner).

  *   Lastly, please do NOT sign up and then quit at the last minute. The competition organizers rely on us to provide accurate team numbers for pairing and selecting judges.  If you decide to compete, treat it as a professional obligation once you have committed to the competition.  If you are signed-up as of January 14, 2024, the expectation is that you will compete. Any student who drops out after the deadline will be required to meet with Dean Tilly concerning character/fitness to maintain professional obligations.

Competing at the 1L Kilpatrick Townsend competition is a fun way to gain trial experience with friends against first-year students at law schools throughout North Carolina. I do believe strongly that if you think advocacy is for you, you should participate in this competition. It is a great way to determine if you are interested in trying out for any of the competitive advocacy options we offer at Campbell Law School. I am available via email and will be in my office on the third floor in the Advocacy Suite once school resumes if you have any questions.

I wish you all the Happiest of Holidays and hope you are enjoying your break!

Kindly,

Director Matney
Mary Ann Matney
Director of Competitive Advocacy
Phone: (919) 865-4481
[cid:image002.jpg at 01DA34F7.38CD3530]

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.campbell.edu/pipermail/law26/attachments/20231222/cea6cc0e/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3578 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <https://list.campbell.edu/pipermail/law26/attachments/20231222/cea6cc0e/attachment-0001.jpg>