DESCRIPTION:
The Berkeley Law Trial Team is one of the top-ranked law school mock trial teams 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 is involved in the 1L Bales Trial Competition, an introductory mock trial competition open to all Berkeley 1L students, and hosts 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 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.
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. In 2025, Berkeley Law had another incredible run, coming home as finalists.
- Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition: The National Trial Competition (NTC) is the “oldest and widely regarded as the most prestigious trial advocacy competition” 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. In 2025, Berkeley Law brought home the Regional Championship again. In 2026, Berkeley Law went undefeated, winning the Regional Championship once more—defending our title for three consecutive years.
- 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. In 2025, our team triumphed in Regionals and represented Berkeley Law yet again at the National Championship.
- 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. In 2026, Becca Goren captured the Top Gun title, cementing another milestone victory for the team.
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS:
Zoe Parkhomovsky (Class of 2028) – American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition 2026
Somewhere between the absurdity of the facts and the very real stakes of a national tournament, the four of us found our stride.
Trial team has a way of turning hesitation into instinct. What starts as a careful, by-the-book cross becomes bigger and bolder because you’ve stopped performing as an attorney and started growing into one. Competing alongside Jenny, Raana, and Beth and watching that shift happen round after round, I got to be part of some of the best advocacy I’ve encountered in nine years of mock trial—proof of what this program can turn you into if you put in the work.
Somewhere between hauling too many trial exhibits through airports, matching nail polish for good luck, and running closing arguments for the tenth time in one night, we stopped being four separate advocates and became a team that could read each other mid-examination. That’s the kind of growth that gives you the skills to become the best attorney you can be.
That’s what this team gave me, and it’s why I’d do it all again.
Lindsey Anstead (Class of 2028) – Chapman National Criminal Trial Competition 2026
Competing was the most rewarding experience of my law school journey so far! It challenged me in all the right ways and pushed me to grow as both an advocate and teammate. I learned everything from the rules of evidence and motions in limine to how to effectively meet and confer with opposing counsel. By the end of the competition, I was eager to demonstrate my command of the facts and tackle evidentiary issues in real time.
One of my favorite parts of the competition was bringing the direct of our client to life. My co-counsel, Pilar, and I spent hours theorizing how to tell his story in a credible, compassionate way. Along the way, we developed an incredible rhythm, from our pretrial coffee rituals to covering our counsel table in mid-trial sticky notes. Winning our rounds was incredibly invigorating, but the greatest reward was the confidence I gained, the skills I developed, and the lifelong friendships I built with the best team. It was truly an unforgettable experience!
Geronimo Owen (Class of 2027) – Shark Beach Showdown 2026
One of my favorite things about Berkeley Law’s mock trial team is how welcoming it is to students without prior mock trial experience. Our competition team was made up of all beginners, and yet we were able to come in as finalists thanks to our incredible coaches and the trial team’s commitment to our education.
As much fun as we had in rounds, the most rewarding part of the tournament was getting to know my teammates—Jenny, Jacob, and Chloe. None of us knew each other particularly well going into the tournament, but we came out of the weekend feeling truly bonded as a unit, with our unique perspectives, styles, and skills coming together to make us successful. My favorite memory from the weekend was the day after the tournament, when the four of us got brunch together and discussed our perspectives on why we want to practice law and be trial attorneys; it was inspiring to see how thoughtful and dedicated they all are to using their education to help people, and how the skills we are learning on the trial team can contribute to achieving those goals.
Ravi Patel (Class of 2027) – Tournament of Champions 2026
Before competing, I was definitely nervous. Despite a long time competing in pretty high-level tournaments, TOC had been hailed to me as the crown jewel of sorts, so I definitely had some serious anticipation as to how hard it would be. Turns out, it was not so bad, and dare I say, super fun!
My biggest takeaway from the experience is that it was really just like any other tournament. For people looking to build trial skills through the team, that’s a good thing. When you are taking on big fights in court, the fundamentals of a great opening, closing, or line of questioning do not change. And sometimes…mastering those fundamentals gets you streamed to hundreds of viewers! The best memory of the tournament was definitely the semifinal round against Georgia. We had just narrowly lost to them the day before, so coming back to defeat them and secure our spot in the finals made the victory all the more gratifying. The best part was that their student competitors were very nice and professional as well.
For eager mock trial students, click here for more information about trial advocacy scholarships.
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 team.
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 teams. 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 Team in Action!