The National Trial Team is a faculty-directed program for credit.
All UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law students who intend to compete on school-sponsored national or regional teams must first complete one or more courses directed at the kind of skills the desired competition features prior to entering such competition (e.g., appellate or trial advocacy, client counseling, negotiation). Students who intend to compete on student organization-sponsored national or regional teams are strongly encouraged to complete the courses, and must have a faculty coach for their team.
Membership in the trial team is a prestigious and highly coveted distinction that significantly enhances members’ law school experience. Bowen’s trial team comprises a select group of second and third year students who compete in interscholastic competitions throughout the United States.
The trial competitions require students to demonstrate their trial advocacy skills in a simulated jury trial, during which experienced trial lawyers and judges evaluate them. Students are exposed to advanced evidence and trial techniques through classroom, courtroom, and competition experience and participate in simulated trials.
Participating in mock trials while in law school allows students to gain standout skills that cannot be taught in the classroom. Trial Team is the students’ chance to put the skills they have learned to use in a safe setting before they are in a real-life trial.
Academic Information and Prerequisites
As prerequisites, participants must have taken Evidence and Lawyering Skills II. Students are also strongly encouraged to take the Moot Court Competition course. Team members are chosen by the faculty coaches from among students who express an interest in the competition. Completion of the required and encouraged courses does not guarantee selection for the Trial Team.
Students selected for the National Trial Competition Team will be required to take Advanced Litigation in the fall semester and will compete in a Trial Competition in the Spring Semester.
Students who wish to compete for credit on a traveling trial competition team sponsored by a student organization, must also have taken Evidence and must have taken, or be taking, Lawyering Skills II. These students are also encouraged to take the Moot Court Competition course. The student organization sponsoring the competition chooses the students to participate. Taking the required and recommended courses does not guarantee that a student will be chosen.
Calculating Co-Curricular Hours
Credits earned in the Advanced Litigation course count as classroom credits and do not count against the limit of eight co-curricular hours. Credit earned for participating in a competition (whether sponsored by the school or by a student organization) does count toward the limit of eight co-curricular hours. A list of the other co-curricular courses is available at section II.A.5 in the Academic Rules.
Requirement for Faculty Adviser/Coach
In addition to the above, you must have a faculty adviser/coach, whether or not members of the team want academic credit. The faculty adviser will grade the performances of those team members receiving academic credit.
