STAC

2024 Student Trial Advocacy Competition

The Regional Tournaments will be held virtually March 7-10, and the National Finals will be held in person April 4-7.

Welcome to STAC 2024

Each year, AAJ hosts the Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC), showcasing top future trial lawyers. This tournament is one of the premier trial advocacy competitions in the country. Regional Tournaments are held across the country, and the two winners of each region then compete in the National Finals. The winning team members are invited to join AAJ at its annual convention in July.

The 2024 Regional Tournaments will be held virtually March 7-10. The National Finals will be held in person April 4-7 in Chicago, IL.

Helpful Links

2024 STAC Timeline

School registration opens: October 16, 2023
School registration closes: October 27, 2023
Coach registration opens: November 1, 2023
School cancellation deadline: November 17, 2023
Student registration opens: December 1, 2023
Fact pattern released: January 2024
Student registration closes: January 19, 2024
Virtual Regional Tournaments: March 7-10, 2024
In-Person National Finals in Chicago: April 4-7, 2024

Participating in STAC was one of the greatest experiences I had in Law School. Our team had an amazing time traveling to the AAJ National Convention in San Diego and representing Campbell Law while networking with attorneys from across the country. We are proud to be National Champions.

Lydia Stoney National Champion Team Member of STAC 2019 Campbell University School of Law

Competition Rules and Procedures

Who can compete?

Each school may use its own method to select its trial team. However, for a student to be eligible, he or she must be enrolled for a J.D. degree and be a law student member of AAJ. Students can join AAJ here.

What is the format of the competition?

AAJ's mock trial cases are always civil cases and tend to deal with products liability, personal injury, or medical malpractice/negligence issues. Teams will be judged on their skills in case preparation, opening statements, use of facts, the examination of lay and expert witnesses, and closing arguments. There will be no written exercise.

How are law schools selected to participate in STAC?

STAC is open to law schools nationwide, and each school that registers is guaranteed one team. There will be 160 teams in 2024 competition, and each team must have four student competitors. Schools that have volunteered to serve as regional competition hosts will be guaranteed two teams. Schools may request a second team when registering, and the remaining slots for second teams will be filled as follows:

All schools not serving as regional competition hosts that request two teams and register on the first day that school registration opens will be placed into a random lottery to determine if they receive a second team.
Once those slots are filled, any schools that requested two teams and registered on the first day that school registration opens will be placed on the waitlist in random order.
Any schools that register after the first day of registration and request two teams will be placed on the waitlist for a second team in the order in which they register.

If spots open due to teams dropping out of the competition, those spots will be filled in waitlist order. Non-host schools that requested two teams will be notified after school registration closes either that they are receiving two teams or their position on the waitlist for a second team.

Each school registration receives a timestamp which will be used to determine the status of the second team. If a school registers two teams and only one team is offered a place in the competition, the school will receive a refund for the second team after the completion of the competition.

How are regions assigned?

Teams are assigned to regionals by AAJ, no placement requests are accepted. Only the top two teams from each region will advance to the National Finals.