Last weekend, members of Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law’s national trial team won the regional championship of the All-Star Bracket Challenge.
 
Virtually co-hosted by UCLA and St. Mary's University, with the help of several regional hosts, including Cumberland School of Law, co-host of Region C, this event is the largest invitational trial competition in the country.
 
The team of third-year law students Jacob Baker, Kiara Molina, Gramm Talbert and Grace Waters competed in Region A, which featured 16 law schools from around the country. They were supported by fellow team members, third-year student Grant Miller and second-year student Harrison Scott, and were coached by alumni Niki Franks, JD ’22; Owen Mattox, JD ’22; Jake Norwood, JD ’22; and Monroe Thornton, JD ’23.
 
In addition to the team win, Molina was named an Outstanding Advocate, an honor given to only 8 of the 128 advocates in the national competition. This marks the second Outstanding Advocate award won by a Cumberland student this fall. Third-year law student Cooper Gray won an Outstanding Advocate award at Battle of the Experts earlier this fall. 
 
“We’re incredibly proud of the hard work our team members put into this competition,” Norwood said. “It is an honor to work with such dedicated students and to see them earn such hard-fought results.”
 
Mattox added, “I can’t say enough about the professionalism and ability of the competitors we faced and the organizers of the tournament. Weekends like this are so rewarding for everyone involved.”
 
As the regional champion, Cumberland’s trial team has earned a spot in the All-Star national competition which will be held in San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 12-15.
 
Cumberland School of Law’s trial advocacy program continues to garner national recognition, ranking 9th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report (2026), 2nd overall in the Gavel Rankings since 2019, and 3rd overall in the Trial Competition Performance Rankings since 2016.