2025 Student Trial Advocacy Competition
The Regional Tournaments will be held March 6-9 with both in-person and virtual regions. The National Finals will be held in person April 3-6.
Welcome to STAC 2025
Each year, AAJ hosts the Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC), showcasing top future trial lawyers. This tournament is one of the premier trial advocacy competitions in the country. Regional Tournaments are held across the country, and the two winning teams from each region then compete in the National Finals. The winning team members are invited to join AAJ at its annual convention in July, with travel and registration provided by AAJ.
The Regional Tournaments will be held March 6-9 with both in-person and virtual regions. The National Finals will be held in person April 3-6.
2025 STAC Timeline
- School registration opens: September 16, 2024, at 12 p.m. (noon) ET
- School registration closes: October 1, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET
- Coach registration opens: October 21, 2024
- Student registration opens: November 12, 2024
- School cancellation deadline: November 22, 2024
- Student registration closes: January 17, 2025
- Fact pattern released: January 2025
- Fact pattern clarifications due: TBD
- Fact pattern clarification answers released: TBD
- Virtual & In-Person Regional Tournaments: March 6-9, 2025
- In-Person National Finals: April 3-6, 2025
AAJ is proud to partner with the National Association of Legal Advocacy Educators (NALAE) to host STAC.
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STAC brought together some of the most talented law students from across the country, creating an atmosphere of intense but collegial competition. Winning the national championship with my Baylor Law teammates was deeply rewarding, but the actual value lay in the experience. Attending the AAJ Annual Convention opened doors to incredible connections with attorneys and law students nationwide. AAJ’s dedication to justice is inspiring, and I’m honored to be part of this community.
Competition Rules and Procedures
Who can compete?
Each school may use its own method to select its trial team. However, for a student to be eligible, he or she must be enrolled for a J.D. degree and be a law student member of AAJ. Students can join AAJ here.
What is the format of the competition?
AAJ's mock trial cases are always civil cases and tend to deal with products liability, personal injury, or medical malpractice/negligence issues. Teams will be judged on their skills in case preparation, opening statements, use of facts, the examination of lay and expert witnesses, and closing arguments. There will be no written exercise.
How are law schools selected to participate in STAC?
STAC is open to law schools nationwide, and each school that registers is guaranteed one team. There will be 160 teams in 2025 competition, and each team must have four student competitors.
When registering, schools will choose if they would like to be in an in-person or virtual region. Each school that requests in-person is guaranteed one in-person team. Read the full school registration process terms and conditions here.
How are regions assigned?
Teams are assigned to regions by AAJ, no placement requests are accepted. The finalized list of in-person regional locations will be sent to schools after school registration has closed. Only the top two teams from each region will advance to the National Finals.
Law student are invited to join AAJ. In addition to being eligible to compete in STAC, law students receive online access to Trial Magazine and AAJ News Brief, are listed in AAJ member directory, and can apply for writing, speaking, and leadership opportunities.
Join TodaySupport the Student Trial Advocacy Competition and volunteer to serve as a judge or juror. More than a thousand AAJ members and other lawyers volunteer each year. It is a fun and easy way to support future trial lawyers. Sign-up and be alerted with judge recruitment begins.
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