Cumberland School of Law consistently excels in regional and national legal skills competitions, maintaining a remarkable performance record. Renowned as one of the nation's most accomplished law schools for trial advocacy training, Cumberland School of Law students also regularly excel in other areas of advocacy including arbitration, negotiation and moot court.
The summer and fall 2024 competition seasons were no exception and culminated in these results:
Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition, Professionalism Award
Widely considered the most difficult national mock trial competition, Top Gun invites only the single top advocate from each school who is not given the case file until 24 hours before the competition.
Amicus Cup Trial Competition, 5th Place and Professionalism Award
This mock trial invitational is only open to the top 12 advocacy programs in the country and is judged by trial team coaches from across the country.
First Chair Trial Competition, Participant
This mock trial competition allows only two participants from each school who advocate for both sides of the case, allowing them to conduct a trial from start to finish.
Battle of the Experts, Runner-up and Two Outstanding Advocate Awards
This mock trial competition features the top 10 strongest trial advocacy law schools in the country and focuses on mastering the skills of using expert witnesses in trials.
Heninger Garrison Davis Closing Argument Competition, First, Second and Third Place
This local competition assigns the role of plaintiff or defense to participants, who must present a closing argument based on their assigned role. Cumberland School of Law students finished in all three top positions.
Tournament of Champions, Semifinalist
The Tournament of Champions is the oldest and most prestigious national invitational competition, selecting only the top 16 most successful programs by using objective criteria based on success in the American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition and the National Trial Competition.
Syracuse Deposition Competition, Winner
This competition aims to enhance critical skills for conducting depositions. In this, the first year of the competition, Cumberland School of Law became the inaugural champions. The team went undefeated and didn’t lose a ballot.
William Daniel Trial Competition, Finalist and Professionalism Award
Sponsored by the Georgia Young Lawyers Division, this competition is one of the oldest national invitational competitions, inviting 18 law schools from across the country to compete.
The Premiere, 2nd Place and Professionalism Award
This event, exclusively for students participating in their first advocacy competition, is judged by trial team coaches from across the country.
National Civil Trial Competition, Professionalism Award
One of the most prestigious national invitation tournaments, the National Civil Trial Competition provides student litigants an opportunity to develop and display the skills of a successful civil litigator.
National Medical-Legal Trial Competition, Participant
Fall 2024 was the first time a Cumberland School of Law team competed in this unique competition. A current medical student is assigned to each team, providing law students the opportunity to prepare future doctors to testify as medical experts while honing their own skills in directing and cross-examining medical experts.
American Bar Association Arbitration Regional, Participant
Cumberland School of Law advocates participated in the largest region of this arbitration competition hosted by the American Bar Association.
St. Mary’s Negotiation Regional, Finalist
Cumberland School of Law’s negotiation team completed the competition as a finalist, finishing narrowly behind the 2023 champion.
In addition to this competition success, Cumberland School of Law entered a new national ranking. In August, the American Bar Association Law published its ranking of the top 10 law school competition teams in arbitration, negotiation, client counseling, mediation and appellate advocacy. Cumberland School of Law ranked 8th in the nation, recognizing their success during the 2023-24 competition season.
The law schools trial programs are ranked 6th for Trial Advocacy by U.S. News & World Report (2024), 3rd in the Gavel Rankings for fall 2024, and 4th in the Trial Competition Performance Rankings for 2023-24 (3rd overall since 2016).
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