UCLA School of Law’s A. Barry Cappello Trial Team is the national champion for a second straight year. The squad secured victory while repeating a previously unprecedented feat: winning the nation’s two biggest law school trial advocacy competitions in the same year.

When UCLA School of Law’s A. Barry Cappello Trial Team started to prepare for its latest competition this semester, they considered the difficult issue at the core of the case, having to do with Miranda rights, and immediately knew whom they should consult.

"The case turns on whether a criminal defendant's confession is admissible," says Justin Bernstein, who coaches the trial team. "The students had been doing the research, and our discussion had been fruitful. But it has been 17 years since I took Criminal Procedure. So, I thought: Why not get help from an expert?"

With wins in five national trial advocacy competitions, UCLA School of Law’s A. Barry Cappello Trial Team recently completed its most successful fall season ever.

The squad, which has been ranked No. 1 in the country for the past two years, was the only one in the nation to prevail in more than one tournament, leading some to consider the team to have accomplished the most dominant fall season in the history of law school trial advocacy competitions.

A year and a half after graduating from UCLA School of Law and starting her “dream job” as a public defender in Los Angeles, Delaram Kamalpour ’19 has already taken three trials through to a verdict. Shortly after one ended in a hung jury and dismissal, her client learned that it had, in fact, been her first trial. But, she recalls, that fact surprised him: “He thought it was my hundredth.”

When UCLA School of Law hosts a new tournament called the Verdict, starting on Oct. 16, it will be presenting a first-of-its kind law school jury-trial competition.

While most trial advocacy competitions ask lawyers or judges to score students on their courtroom performances as a proxy for what lay jurors would find persuasive, the Verdict includes lay jurors who submit verdicts on the merits. Like in real trials, the winning team will be the one that best persuades the juries.

The annual ranking of the top law school trial advocacy teams in the country has been released, and the A. Barry Cappello Trial Team at UCLA School of Law is No. 1 for the second year in a row. The success comes after a record-breaking season for the law school’s trial team, including landmark wins in the most esteemed competitions in the country.

With victories in the two premier trial advocacy competitions in the country – the National Trial Competition and the Student Trial Advocacy Competition – UCLA School of Law’s A. Barry Cappello Trial Team has earned its most prestigious wins ever and is the national champion. No school has ever before won both titles in the same season.

UCLA School of Law’s A. Barry Cappello Trial Team completed another dominant month in March. Already ranked No. 1 in the nation, the team won the National Ethics Trial Competition, took second place at the South Texas Challenge, and finished in third place at the Capitol City Challenge. Each virtual tournament included more than 30 law schools.

UCLA School of Law students Delaney Gold-Diamond ’21 and Avery Hitchcock ’21 won the prestigious Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition, which was held virtually over the course of several weeks, from late February through mid-March.

Two crews of students representing UCLA School of Law’s A. Barry Cappello Trial Team swept the Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC) West Coast regional, which was held virtually March 4-7. UCLA Law will be among 12 law schools competing at the national championship tournament in April.