DESCRIPTION:
The Berkeley Law Trial Team is one of the top-ranked law school mock trial programs nationwide. On the team, students have the opportunity to hone their advocacy and develop their skills as trial lawyers. The Trial Team travels across the country to represent Berkeley Law in prestigious civil and criminal trial competitions.
The team also supports two internal competitions: the 1L Bales Trial Competition, an introductory mock trial competition open to all Berkeley 1L students, and the Pahlke Internal Trial Competition (PINT), an advanced mock trial competition open to members of the Trial Team.
SKILL BUILDING:
On the Trial Team, students learn how to prepare a case for trial. They review legal documents, witness statements, and physical evidence. In competition they argue motions, deliver opening statements, conduct direct and cross examinations, and deliver closing arguments. All new members participate in the Trial Competitions class, taught by program director and trial lawyers Spencer Pahlke and Jenna Forster. All competition teams are coached by our exceptional Trial Team alumni. You can find more information about our robust network through our trial team alumni map, which can be found here.
Pictured (from left to right): Rebecca Goren ‘26, Daniel Seo ‘27, Ravi Patel ‘27, and Dylan Hughes ‘26 at the Tournament of Champions (Fall 2025) hosted by Baylor Law School after finishing as national finalists.
THE PAHLKE TRIAL ADVOCACY SCHOLARSHIP:
Beginning in 2022, Berkeley Law will be offering the Pahlke Trial Advocacy Scholarship to students who show a demonstrated interest in civil or criminal trial advocacy, have participated in activities such as mock trial in college and/or high school, have been successful in such competitions, and/or show significant interest in participating in trial competition at law school. Prospective recipients will be identified, screened, and selected by the Dean of Admissions of the law school, and the amount of the awards will be flexible from year to year.
COMPETITIONS:
- National Board of Trial Advocacy Tournament of Champions: Tournament of Champions (TOC) is one of the nation’s most prestigious law school mock trial competitions. The annual invitation-only competition hosts the top 16 elite trial advocacy programs across the country and is sponsored by two renowned organizations: the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and Trial Lawyers for Justice. In 2020 and 2025, Berkeley Law were finalists—finishing in second place in the country.
- Greene Broillet & Wheeler National Civil Trial Competition: The National Civil Trial Competition (NCTC) hosts sixteen of the top law school trial advocacy programs schools who demonstrate excellence in mock trial competitions and litigation skills. In 2018, Berkeley Law finished in third place. In 2015 and 2024, Berkeley Law won the competition as champions—going undefeated in the latter.
- Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition: The National Trial Competition (NTC) is the “oldest and widely regarded as the most prestigious trial advocacy competitions” across all levels of mock trial. The competition hosts more than 150 law schools and more than 1,000 law students each year. In 2019 and 2024, Berkeley Law finished as Regional Champions and National Quarterfinalists.
- American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition: The Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC) is a prestigious annual mock trial competition open to AAJ members, hosting over 600 law students nationwide. The competition is sponsored and jointly hosted by the American Association of Justice and the National Association of Legal Advocacy Educators (NALAE). In 2019 and 2024, Berkeley Law finished as Regional Champions—and were National Semifinalists in the former.
- Baylor Law Top Gun National Mock Trial Competition: Top Gun is an invitation-only tournament where the single-best advocates from the top sixteen trial advocacy schools across the nation compete for the title of “Top Gun.” Berkeley Law is regularly invited to send an advocate to participate in the competition—and Berkeley’s Colin Tierney won the competition in 2013.
STUDENT TESTIMONIAL:
Cheyenne Smith (Class of 2022) – Tournament of Champions 2020
On November 5–7, 2020, four intrepid advocates experienced the first (and hopefully last) virtual version of the National Board of Trial Advocates’ Tournament of Champions. For the 2020 competition, advocates argued the case of Fuller v. CostLow: Jordan Fuller, on behalf of her son Sam, sued CostLow Grocery for negligence after her son suffered an allergic reaction to a sample he ate in the store. Plaintiffs Jenna Forster (’22) and Cheyenne Smith (’22) demanded accountability from CostLow. It could have warned its customers about the dangers of its products by providing a warning It just didn’t. On the other side, Defense team Virginia Lyon (’21) and Emma Nicholls (’21) demonstrated that only one person could have prevented this tragedy—Jordan Fuller herself. She knew her son had a peanut allergy. All she had to do was ask about the ingredients before handing it to him. The theories were tight, the themes quippy, and the cases-in-chief streamlined, but one question remained—would the judges be convinced?
Bright and early on November 5th, our team woke up in four separate places (and in Emma’s case, a different time zone!), eager to see if we had successfully adapted our advocacy to the Zoom world. Over the six weeks prior, Jenna, Virginia, Emma, and Cheyenne spent countless hours writing and re-writing pieces, trying out new virtual advocacy techniques, and making plenty of jokes about peanuts. Finally it was time to find out if the preparation paid off.
Plaintiffs Jenna and Cheyenne breezed through Round 1. The statements were smooth and examinations were conversational. During Round 2, Emma and Virginia delivered a similarly clean performance, staying above the fray in an odd trial. After Day 1, Berkeley’s TOC team was undefeated, winning all six possible ballots.
Early success was great, but it all came down to Day 2. Rounds 3 and 4 were technically smooth but we worried about whether we had managed to stand out against two confident opponents. By the end of Day 2, we knew we had done everything we could, but had absolutely no clue what might have happened on the ballots.
The post-preliminary ceremony that usually has food, drink, and celebration became a brief Zoom call with results. However, we all happily cashed in that experience for this outcome: with a 9-3 record and a triple-digit point differential, the tournament director announced that Berkeley was a semi-finalist.
Few things can make waking up on a Saturday at 6:30 AM an enviable position, but moving on in a mock trial tournament is one of them. The Plaintiff side started off Day 3 with a close round against an excellent team. Jenna beautifully adapted to our opponent’s creative theory with an impeachment by omission that landed perfectly. Cheyenne turned a barrage of objections on direct into an opportunity to make the expert look even better. After the ballots were in, Jenna sent a text: “Did we…win?”
Yes, folks, we did.
That meant we were moving on to the final round. For the sixth round of mock trial in three days, our 3L powerhouse Defense team went head-to-head in an inter-UC battle, facing UCLA. Emma exercised phenomenal witness control, utilizing new techniques she rehearsed the night before. Virginia delivered a powerful closing argument, rising to the nearly impossible task of balancing faulting a mother without attacking her parenting.
After all the ballots were tabulated, the tournament director announced that, although it was close, UCLA had won. As we made our way over our team Zoom debrief to commiserate, we reflected on what we had accomplished. We put all we had on the table throughout unorthodox circumstances and still managed to grow as advocates—and finish at second place in the nation. If you’d like to see our team in all its glory, you can watch the final round here.
The backgrounds have been put away, the camera stands taken down, and the Google Folders closed, but our fires remain lit. I, for one, can’t wait to see what we accomplish next.
HEAD COACHES:
Spencer Pahlke has been the head coach of the Berkeley Law Trial Team since 2007. Spencer teaches the Trial Competitions Course, a mandatory class for all Trial Team Members, and he oversees all the Trial Team’s competitions. Spencer is also a Shareholder at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, where his practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases involving defective medical devices, vehicular collisions, dangerous conditions of public and private property, and medical malpractice.
Jenna N. Forster is an attorney at Motley Rice LLC, where she represents government entities in consumer protection and deceptive marketing litigation. She has represented states, counties, and cities in litigation involving the over-dispensing and over-distribution of prescription opioids, the predatory marketing of e-cigarettes to children, the addictive and harmful effects of social media on children, and the inflation of drug prices by pharmacy benefit managers.
In addition to lecturing in trial advocacy at Berkeley Law, Jenna also serves as a head coach of Berkeley Law’s nationally recognized trial competition program.
Jenna earned her law degree from Berkeley Law, where she served as Executive Editor of California Law Review, Executive Editor of the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law, and Justice, and student Co-Director of Berkeley’s trial competitions program. Upon graduation, she was awarded Pro Bono Honors, received the Anthony F. Dragonette Award for Civil Trial Practice, and was admitted to the Order of the Coif and Order of Barristers.
Watch our Program in Action!