Hello there,

Welcome to the quarterly Trial Team newsletter for Spring 2025!

We had an amazing year full of growth, awards, and camaraderie - and we hope you'll scroll down and read all about it!

Hello Trial Team alumni, friends, and supporters!

It was a great year for the National Trial Team. As you can read about below, we advanced to Nationals at both major competitions again, won or placed at numerous other tournaments, and represented Maryland with pride across the country. We held the third annual Salsbury Trial Advocacy Tournament, welcomed sixteen new members to the program, and we're about to graduate an amazing class of eleven people who will join our alumni community and enter the legal profession. I couldn't be prouder of what we've done this year.

But even with all those accomplishments, I am also proud of what each of you are doing in the world. I was thrilled to see Marnell Cooper '02 be appointed to the bench in Baltimore City. I'm watching with pride as Sarah David '13 runs for public office, looking to join Mark Edelson '10 as Trial Team alums in elected public service. I heard stories from a trial that matched up Alex Carlson '13 against Lindsey McCulley '12 and Dylan Elliott '20. And I've received texts and emails from former students who are using their skills every day to make the world a better place through their commitment to justice. 

We have a lot of irons in the fire right now for the Trial Team. We hosted our first Alumni Weekend Meet & Greet recently, we hosted/co-hosted NTC and AAJ Regionals this year, we're about to hold our annual Jerome E. Deise Medallion Ceremony, and I'm hoping to make some announcements soon about other major events - including, hopefully, our own invitational tournament here in Baltimore. None of this would be possible without your continued support, so thank you for giving back, volunteering your time, and helping our students grow every day. 

I hope you all have a wonderful summer filled with time to relax and spend time with those you love. But before you know it, I'll be back in your inbox to tell you all about our Fall 2025 tournament schedule! I can already tell you it's going to be a good one - and I hope to see many of you in the building to help our teams get ready for another great year. 

Sincerely,

Trial Team wins multiple competitions and rises in the rankings!

It was a banner year for the National Trial Team. We broke to Nationals at the TYLA National Trial Competition and the AAJ Student Trial Advocacy Tournament for the second year in a row, we won the Fordham Judge Joseph Paul Kelly, Jr. Competition, finished as finalists at the Quinnipiac/ABA Criminal Justice Competition, and much, much more. 

Please click the button below to read more about all of our results, our upcoming return to Top Gun, our rise in the rankings, and more!

Best Advocate Madelyn Snider presents her closing argument during the final round of the 2025 Salsbury Trial Advocacy Tournament.

On April 16, 2025, the National Trial Team hosted the final round of the third annual Salsbury Trial Advocacy Tournament. This tournament is the tryout process for the National Trial Team. Prospective members present a closing argument in Round 1, and those who advance to Round 2 present a cross examination along with limited evidentiary arguments. The top four finishers from the first two rounds advance to the final round. 

This year's final round featured new members Thomas Azari '27, Greyson Cox '27, Madelyn Snider '27, and Kennedi Thomas '27. Head Coach Ian Anthony '13 served as the presiding judge, and coaches Lindsey Rennie '19, Dylan Elliott '20, Fiona Puglese '20, and Hannah Coffin '20 sat as jurors, along with 2023 Salsbury Finalists Milly Sasu '25, Giovanna Monti '25, Trevor Patschorke '25, and Alex Tamayo '25. 

After two hours of spirited competition, Madelyn Snider won the award for Best Advocate, and Thomas Azari was named Runner-Up Best Advocate. We are so proud of all four finalists for their outstanding performance in this year's final round. 

We recently welcomed sixteen new members of the National Trial Team! These members include the four Salsbury Finalists and twelve other 1Ls who finished as Semifinalists. We are thrilled to welcome such a large and talented class of new members to the National Trial Team family. 

We want to keep track of what our amazing alumni are doing in the world, and now we have a way to do this: class notes! Please use the form linked below to submit your updates about new jobs, trial victories, weddings, new members of your family, and more! We'll feature some of them in each newsletter update so you can see what your fellow alumni are doing.

We are thrilled that Baylor has invited Maryland Carey Law to return to Top Gun, one of the nation's most difficult Mock Trial competitions! Maryland competed at Top Gun last year for the first time in over a decade, and Becca Wells finished as a semifinalist at that competition. 

This year, outgoing captain Ashley Travis will represent Maryland at Top Gun, with rising 3L Abdullah Khan serving as her second chair. Salsbury Director Ben Garmoe '16 will travel to coach our Top Gun team. Top Gun is May 28 - June 1, and we will send an update once the competition is over. Please join us in wishing Ashley and Abdullah good luck as they travel to Waco later this month for Top Gun!

For our last newsletter of the 2024-25 season, I have to take a moment to thank Moonisha Huq. Moonisha has served as Public Relations Chair for the past year, and she has done an amazing job. So many of you have told me how much you enjoy seeing our updates on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and that is all because of Moonisha's hard work. 

Moonisha also played an instrumental role in expanding our tryout pool this year. She stepped up entirely on her own initiative and coordinated sending Trial Team members to many different affinity organizations and other clubs at the law school to talk about why 1Ls should try out for the team. Moonisha has been an amazing leader this year, and I am so grateful for her commitment and dedication to sharing our accomplishments on social media and beyond. 

If there is something missing from the Trial Team Newsletter that you would like to see added, please let us know.