Cumberland Trial Advocacy Board

Proud of our William Daniel team, who placed 5th after barely missing out on semi-finals by a tiebreaker! Henry Sheils, Brady Heard, Grace Waters, Kiara Molina, Malija Goggins, and Makayela Bouldes represented us well in Atlanta, Georgia, so well that they received the Most Professional Team Award!

This team was coached by Judge Jim Roberts, Julie McMakin, and Bella Colombo. Thank you coaches!!

Shout out to our Med-Legal team, who placed 5th after barely missing out on semi-finals by a tiebreaker! E.J. Turner, Anna Padgett, Blake Wheeler, and Mary Bishop represented us well up in Long Island, NY, and we are so proud of Mary Bishop for bringing home a Best Advocate Award!

A huge thank you to their coaches, Owen Mattox and Jake Norwood, for being such great mentors to the team and for getting everyone home safely! When all of the flights from New York to Birmingham were getting dropped, Jake Norwood hopped behind the wheel of a mini van and drove for 16 hours straight to get everyone back home while Owen Mattox kept everyone's spirits high!

Congratulations to the CHAMPIONS of The 2025 Premiere Trial Competition! Ellie Tidwell, Elle Brown, Daniel Washington, and Cooper Gray had a very successful weekend representing us in Austin, Texas, and we are so proud of Elle Brown for receiving a Best Advocate Award!

Thank you to their spectacular coaches, Mason Osborn and Lana Bell, for all of their hard work!

Join us in wishing Olivia Lee, Henry Sheils, Brady Heard, and Sloane Saxon good luck as they travel to Waco, Texas to compete in the Tournament of Champions!

Tournament of Champions is an invitation-only competition that showcases some of the nation’s top law students from 16 of the top trial advocacy institutions.

This team was coached by alumni Judge Jim Roberts and Trent Testa. Good luck, TOC!!!

That’s a wrap on the 2025-2026 James O. Haley Federal Trial Competition.👏👏 Congratulations to our winner, Jake Mangel!!🏆

The Haley would not have been possible without our advocates, judges, and sponsors. A special thank you to Lauren Golston, our James O. Haley Federal Trial Competition Director, who made this year’s competition a huge success!!

Good luck to the advocates competing in the preliminary round of the 2025 James O. Haley Federal Trial Competition!

The Haley is a 1 v. 1 knock-out style competition where current second- and third-year students compete for the chance to win the Hollis, Wright & Clay Winner Award of $500 and the Beasley Allen Law Firm Runner-Up Award of $250!

Each advocate must only call one witness per side, and the entire trial is limited to an hour and twenty minutes. This year's problem is entitled: Hardwicke v. Paz, a civil negligence case with a special cameo from Mcdonald's Grimace!

The Haley helps simulate real life for future civil lawyers who want to go to trial. We are excited to see these students put their advocacy skills to the test!

Congratulations to these Cumberland National Trial Team members who were selected as finalists in the Heninger Garrison Davis Closing Argument Competition!

Heninger Garrison Davis, LLC hosts their Closing Argument Competition annually, opening sign-ups to local law students. The goal of the competition is to encourage advocacy and reward law students for advancing their advocacy skills.

20 participants competed in the first round, and we are proud to say that 4 of the 8 advocates competing in the finals tonight are Cumberland National Trial Team members! We wish them luck!

Good luck to our National Trial Team members as they compete in the All Star Bracket Challenge Regional Competition via Zoom this weekend! Cumberland is represented by Brandon Robinson, Chandni Patel, Mathews Ivey, and Morgan Dunn.

The All Star Challenge is a national competition with four regional competitions online. The top 2 teams of each regional competition then go on to compete in San Antonio for the national finals in person!

Thank you to our coaches and advocates for all of your hard work! This team is coached by Niki Franks and Blake Milner.

Please join us in congratulating our National Trial Team members on another successful weekend at the Battle of the Experts Trial Competition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!

For the second year in a row, our team finished in second place out of 10 teams, after winning 4 preliminary rounds and the semifinal round.

Thank you to our Battle of the Experts Team for a successful start to competition season and to our coaches Walt Cobb, Elise Driskill, and Curtis Seal for dedicating your time to help us become better advocates!

Congratulations to the 2025-2026 National Trial Team!!! We are very excited for the competition season ahead!!!

Congratulations to Omega Adams and Blake Cordova for finishing as quarterfinalists at AAJ Nationals in Atlanta, GA! Thank you to Hall Billings and Mitch Dolen for being incredible witnesses! We are so proud of this team!

This team was coached by Julie McMakin, Bella Colombo, Curtis Seal, and Michael Eldridge! Congratulations students and coaches!