Seventeenth Annual National Pretrial Competition
Courts across the country use pretrial hearings to determine constitutional, evidentiary, and procedural matters before trial. The Seventeenth Annual National Pretrial Competition (NPTC) provides students with a forum to develop skills for properly researching, analyzing, and litigating important, case-dispositive, pretrial matters in an evidentiary hearing almost identical to that of a full trial.
NPTC 2024 will take place on October 3-6, 2024. This year’s packet is an attempted murder case. There will be a pretrial “Stand Your Ground” hearing on whether the defendant has the right to claim self-defense at trial. We will accept 16 teams and each team is guaranteed 4 rounds (the fourth preliminary round will be a silent quarterfinal). Each team will:
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- Write two memoranda of law (one for each side of the case) which are incorporated in the team score during the preliminary rounds;
- Present an opening statement to the court regarding the anticipated evidence and legal question;
- Direct and cross-examine four witnesses (two for each side); and
- Make a closing argument to the court based on the evidence presented in the hearing and legal analysis of the issues.
The application deadline is July 1, 2024.
- The problem will be released on August 1, 2024;
- The memos of law are due September 1, 2024; and
- The evidentiary hearing will take place on October 3-6, 2024, in the new Advocacy Institute at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, FL.
For all schools selected, the non-refundable registration fee is $850. Selection will be based on each school's competition resume (required with the application) and history of attending, and prior success at, NPTC. In addition, in an effort to further competition accessibility, this year (like last) we will invite from the applicant pool two schools that have never competed at NPTC before.
Please email [email protected] with any questions.