Congratulations to the FIU Trial Team on winning the AAJ 2026 Regional Championship! FIU Trial Team members 3Ls Rachel Cross, Michael Leatherman, and Benjamin Sly, along with 2L Callie Moore, won the Annapolis Regional competition of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) 2026 Student Trial Advocacy Competition. They defeated, in order, Stetson, Georgetown, Florida, Regent, and St. Thomas, overcoming one of the strongest fields of trial advocacy competitors in the region. FIU has now won the AAJ Regionals 4 of the last 5 years - 2022, 2023, 2025, and now 2026. A remarkable achievement.
FIU’s second dynamic trial team consisted of 3Ls Adhan Fathy and Norhan Saber, and 2Ls Farrah Stino and David Aguedelo. They advanced to the semi-final round of the Pittsburgh Regional competition – beating Lincoln Memorial University, Wayne State University, University of Akron (last year’s Regional champion) before falling to Duquesne University (this year’s Regional champion). What this team did was quite extraordinary because these students were not scheduled to compete in this competition. They were only assembled to help prepare the other team - like a sparring partner. However, three weeks before the competition, another school dropped out and these committed and courageous students stepped up to fill that vacant slot on very short notice and fill it they did.
The case file for this year’s competition featured a wrongful death claim brought against a corporation that owned and managed a shopping mall with a parking lot. The family of the 75-year-old deceased plaintiff alleged that the owner of the parking lot was negligent because he had maintenance and failed to adequately warn of a dangerous hazard because the parking lot was not adequately lit and had exposed sprinkler heads that posed a tripping hazard for business invitees. On the night in question, the deceased plaintiff walked out of a bar located in the mall after having a few drinks and into the parking lot. He tripped over an exposed sprinkler head, struck his head, and died. The corporation filed a comparative negligence claim alleging that the plaintiff tripped over the exposed sprinkler head because he was intoxicated, stumbling inside, and outside of the bar and that his intoxication caused him to trip over the sprinkler head and die.
Professor H.T. Smith said, “This Trial Team was clearly the best at getting better. Every practice and every match they got measurable better. Their stories became more interesting. Their theories became more persuasive. Their themes became more moral and memorable. And their confidence and courage became more ingrained in their belief systems. They, and their master coaches, represented our school in the highest tradition of passionate principled advocacy and once again enhanced the reputation of FIU College of Law.”
The AAJ 2026 team began practicing on January 10, 2026, on weekdays and weekends to create powerful stories that would persuade judges and jurors. The team was masterfully coached by Trial Team alumni Alexander Pollock (J.D. ’23) and TerryAnn Howell (J.D. ’14). Also, contributing to the success of the team were Trial Team Alumni Ashley Lherisson (J.D. ’13), circuit Court Judge Michelle Delancy, and, as always, Professor H.T. Smith, Founding Director of our Trial Advocacy Program.
The winning team is headed to the National Competition, which is being held in New Orleans from March 26-29, 2026.
Our AAJ Regional 2026 championship comes just two months after FIU Law Trial Team won the Chester Bedell Memorial Mock Trial Competition which is considered the Super Bowl of state Mock Trial competitions.
AAJ’s Student Trial Advocacy Competition is only one of two open national championship tournaments offered in the law school trial team community each year and ranks among the premier mock trial competitions in the nation.