ALMD Hosts Inaugural Faulkner Law Advocacy Competition

October 7, 2016

Recently, the Alabama Middle District hosted the first two rounds of Faulkner Law School’s Mockingbird Challenge National Trial Competition. The inaugural event brought many of the best-ranked Advocacy Programs in the nation – five of them were recently ranked in the Top 20 by U.S. News & World Report. This national attention to the first-year event stands as a testament to Faulkner Law’s own advocacy teams’ successes.

In choosing the name for this event, Professor Joe Lester (Directory of Advocacy Program, Faulkner Law School) wanted something inherently Southern, with a civil rights aspect, and a true Alabama story. Drawing on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird seemed particularly appropriate, especially since Atticus Finch, as you will recall, studied law here in Montgomery.

The two days of competition were held in our District Courtrooms, and in some of the USBC’s courtrooms. The event included a dinner at the Capital City Club, and was officially hosted by the Alabama State Bar and the Faulkner Law School.