Published on March 20, 2025 by Morgan Black
Share this on:
In February and March, Samford University Cumberland School of Law’s national trial, mediation and moot court teams traveled from coast to coast to compete in regional advocacy competitions. Over four consecutive weeks, Cumberland teams won all four regional events of the most prestigious law school competitions in the country: the American Bar Association Representation in Mediation Competition, the American Bar Association National Appellate Advocacy Competition, the National Trial Competition and the American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition.
These tournaments expose law students to the genuine nature of advocacy, allowing them to apply classroom acumen to real-world applications while preparing them for meaningful careers.
“These four regional wins are unprecedented in recent Cumberland advocacy history,” said Sara Williams, JD ’06, director of advocacy programs, “which is a testament to the dedication of our students, volunteer coaches and all the alumni who dedicate their time to help prepare our teams for competitions. The goal of our advocacy program is to produce practice-ready graduates, and the performance of these students is a testament to that goal being met. Several of the judges who evaluated our students commented that they are better than many of the lawyers observed in actual practice.”
National Tournaments
Cumberland School of Law will be represented by some of the brightest student advocates at these respective national tournaments:
American Bar Association Representation in Mediation
March 28-29: Chicago, Illinois
Student advocates: Caroline Poston and Victoria Spera
National Appellate Advocacy Competition
April 3-5: Chicago, Illinois
Student advocates: Justin Martin, John Koo and Hannah Wood
National Trial Competition
April 3-6: Houston, Texas
Student advocates: Grayson Walden and John West
American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition
April 3-6: Atlanta, Georgia
Student advocates: Blake Cordova and Omega Adams
“I hope the Cumberland community will share with me not only the pride in this achievement but that all of our competing students do so with the standard of professionalism and integrity that our community has long been known for,” Williams added.
As the teams prepare for nationals, the Cumberland community celebrates yet another milestone in its storied history of advocacy excellence. Cumberland’s advocacy programs are nationally recognized for excellence: 6th for Trial Advocacy by U.S. News & World Report (2024), 3rd in the Gavel Rankings for fall 2024, 4th in the Trial Competition Performance Rankings for 2023-24 (3rd overall since 2016), and 8th in the top ABA law school competition teams in arbitration, negotiation, client counseling, mediation and appellate advocacy (2024).Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.
