Our 2025-26 National Trial Team members after their summer scrimmages on August 24, 2025.

Hello there,

Welcome to the quarterly Trial Team newsletter for Winter 2025-26!

We had another successful semester full of great results and team camaraderie. I hope you'll take the time to read all about it! 

Hello Trial Team alumni, friends, and supporters!

I am thrilled to bring you news and updates from one of the most rewarding semesters in recent memory. This past fall, we sent teams out to nine different competitions. Twelve of our sixteen new 2L members competed for the first time, and even with this influx of new competitors we still won a championship, won four team awards, and took home several individual honors. I am tremendously proud of what we accomplished this past semester, and I hope you will take the time to scroll down and read all about it.

As the Trial Team continues to grow and succeed, I have kept up with what our alumni are doing in the world. I was thrilled to see so many of you at the investiture for Judge Marnell Cooper '02 - see below for a short recap of that day. I'm excited to see Ryan Perlin '05 and Emily Malarkey '05 branch out and start Malarkey Perlin, LLC. I've watched with pride as Sarah David '13 runs for Baltimore County State's Attorney, as Laura Dunn '14 runs for Congress in NY-12, and as Del. Mark Edelson '10 continues to serve District 46 in Maryland. I also loved catching up with Judge Charles Austin '12 and Judge Brendan Hurson '05 at the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference last fall. It is always such a joy to follow the many accomplishments of our incredible alumni community.

As you all know, we are approaching a busy time of year for the Trial Team. We'll begin the semester with NTC on February 6-8 in Washington DC, and follow that up with AAJ in Annapolis - co-hosted again by us and Baltimore - on March 6-8. (Sign up below to judge at AAJ Regionals!) We'll also be sending teams to Chicago, Columbia, Fort Lauderdale, and Puerto Rico as we train our large class of 2L members. Please keep an eye on your email and check out the link in this newsletter to sign up as a practice judge. We are going to need a lot of alumni support this semester to judge practice trials and scrimmages for these challenging competitions. 

I hope you all had a joyful and healthy holiday season, filled with moments to relax and time with those you love. Thank you for your continued support of the National Trial Team!

Sincerely,

This semester was another fantastic term for the Trial Team. Here is a brief overview of our accomplishments and awards:

Abdullah Khan '26 and Thomas Azari '27 celebrate after winning the UC Berkeley National Flash Trial Competition.

As you can see from this information, we had an excellent semester. This was our fourth consecutive semester winning a championship and we took home numerous individual awards from both experienced and new competitors. I am so proud of the entire team for their hard work and dedication this semester, and I cannot wait to get back on the road this spring to add more awards and accomplishments to this list.

I want to send a special thank you to the alumni who took the time out of their busy schedules to travel with our teams. If you are interested in becoming a travel coach, please reach out to Ben directly! We are always looking for more people to travel and support our students as they compete across the country.

Our Fall 2025 travel coaches were:

We are co-hosting the 2026 American Association for Justice (AAJ) Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC) from March 6-8, 2026 in Annapolis, MD with our friends at the University of Baltimore School of Law - and we need your help! Please consider signing up to judge one or more of the preliminary rounds.

National Trial Team captain Lauren Helbig '26 presents her arguments to the jury of students on behalf of the defendant, Dorothy Gale. Photo courtesy of Matthew Paul D’Agostino.

On December 18, 2025, the National Trial Team and the Hippodrome Foundation partnered for a special event. 75+ middle and high school students from the Baltimore region came to the Ceremonial Courtroom at Maryland Carey Law to watch "The State of Oz v. Dorothy Gale: A Fairy Tale Trial."

Dorothy was on trial for murder of The Wicked Witch, and the State of Oz alleged that Dorothy intentionally dropped her house on the victim. The case pattern was written by Salsbury Director Ben Garmoe '16 - who also served as the presiding judge - and was performed by National Trial Team members Allison Paul '26 (Prosecution Counsel), Lauren Helbig '26 (Defense Counsel), Sarah Dudley '27 (Glinda the Good), Greyson Cox '27 (The Wizard of Oz), and Meredith Beisel '27 (Dorothy Gale).

After the trial was over, the students questioned the witnesses and voted as the jury. Dorothy was found not guilty by a resounding vote! Then, the students and volunteers all walked over to the Hippodrome and saw Wicked, courtesy of tickets from the Hippodrome Foundation.

Salsbury Director Ben Garmoe '16 swears in Dorothy Gale to testify in her own defense, portrayed by Meredith Beisel '27. Photo courtesy of Matthew Paul D’Agostino.

National Trial Team alumni Ben Salsbury '07, Del. Mark Edelson '10, Tiffani Collins '08, A.J. Bellido de Luna '04, Erin Frazee '09, Chris Madaio '10, Miguel Palmeiro '09, Loretta Bacon Kaprow '16, Alex Carlson '13, Ben Garmoe '16, and Sally McMillan Robb '11 at the investiture for Judge Marnell Cooper '02.

It was wonderful to see such a strong National Trial Team presence at the investiture for Baltimore City District Court Judge Marnell Cooper '02. Judge Cooper's investiture was on September 18, 2025 at the Edward F Borgerding District Courthouse, and we had the chance to take a photo with the large Trial Team contingent before Judge Cooper joined the reception. Congratulations again to Judge Cooper on his well-deserved elevation to the bench in Baltimore City! 

Our spring semester is underway, and we need your help to support our teams as they prepare for competition! Please consider signing up to judge a practice trial using the link below. 

Thank you to the members of the Trial Advocacy Leadership Council! The council is chaired by Lindsey McCulley '12, and council members provide crucial input and support to the National Trial Team. Thank you to:

If you are interested in joining the Leadership Council to help build the future of the National Trial Team, please reach out to Executive Director of Development Andrew Altshuler at aaltshuler@law.umaryland.edu. 

Our team member spotlight is Aarushi Roperia '27! Aarushi is a 2L member of the National Trial Team who competed for the first time last semester at The Premiere Trial Competition in Philadelphia, PA. Aarushi is interested in pursuing criminal law after graduation, and her favorite moment from her tenure on the Trial Team so far is learning poker with her team before the Premiere competition because the competition packet was centered on a poker game. Aarushi's "fun fact" is her name means "first ray of the sun." We are so glad to have Aarushi on the team, and we can't wait to see her excel this semester and beyond!