THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LEGAL ADVOCACY EDUCATORS (NALAE) and THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE (AAJ)

In the 2023–2024 academic year, NALAE and AAJ established an annual partnership dedicated to collaboratively hosting the Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC), a prestigious educational competition with a long and respected history in the legal education community.

STAC represents a true win–win–win for all involved:

• Students gain valuable, hands-on experience that strengthens their professional knowledge and practice skills;
• AAJ expands its connection to future members of the legal profession and the organization itself; and
• NALAE advances its mission of promoting excellence in Professional Legal Education at its member institutions.

STAC is recognized as one of the nation’s premier progressive law school trial advocacy tournaments as it consists of ten regional tournaments with the top teams from each region advancing to the STAC National Championship.

NALAE members bring hundreds of collective years of experience in hosting and managing advocacy tournaments, including expertise in:

• Drafting, testing, and refining the educational case materials that form the basis of the simulated experience;
• Emphasizing ethical conduct among participating students and their Professional Legal Education mentors;
• Recruiting and training qualified Ruling Judges and Scoring Jurors;
• Providing substantive and ethical orientation for all tournament officials to ensure professional, constructive feedback for student advocates;
• Maintaining the integrity and effective operation of balloting and scoring systems; and,
• Upholding the overall high quality and professional standards of such educational events.

AAJ contributes its historic reputation, national reach, and broad membership network, key elements that help ensure STAC remains an annual success and a hallmark of excellence in law student advocacy training.