Published on March 18, 2026 聽
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Members of 91果冻 Cumberland School of Law’s national trial team finished as national semifinalists in the Trials and Tribulations National Trial Competition (TNT), March 13-15. The competition included 21 teams from some of the top ranked law school trial advocacy programs in the country.
The team included third-year student Blake Wheeler, and second-year students Jacob Bake, Morgan Dunn, Kiara Molina, Chandni Patel and Daniel Washington.
This unique competition mimics professional, multi-defendant litigation. Each round featured three teams competing from different schools, with one team representing the plaintiff and two teams representing different defendants against whom the plaintiff brought claims. This year, the plaintiff was a 17-year-old working at a car wash who suffered a broken arm while retrieving towels from a washing machine. The plaintiff brought claims against the business for failure to properly maintain the machine and failure to properly train the plaintiff, and against the manufacturer of the washing machine for defective design.
After six preliminary rounds in which Cumberland students represented each party twice, the team was tied for third place. In addition to the team’s semifinalist finish, Dunn received an individual Outstanding Advocate Award, the fifth outstanding advocate recognition for Cumberland’s national trial team this academic year. Cumberland’s team was coached by alumni Lana Bell, JD ’20, Owen Mattox, JD ’22, and Mason Osborn, JD ’22.
“We are very proud of our students who have worked tirelessly over the last few months to represent Cumberland,” Osborn said. “This is another example of our program’s commitment to creating practice ready professionals.”
“TNT is an intense and difficult competition with three parties represented in each trial,” said Judge Jim Roberts, JD ’94, director of national trial teams and co-director of advocacy programs. “Our coaches did a tremendous job preparing our students to compete at the highest level in this demanding competition, and I cannot say enough about our students and how hard they worked to prepare. Their willingness to be coached and to learn has paid huge dividends not only in their success during this tournament but also in their growth as advocates.”
Cumberland School of Law’s trial advocacy program continues to garner national recognition, ranking 4th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report (2025), 2nd in the Gavel Rankings for 2024–25, and 3rd overall in the Trial Competition Performance Rankings since 2016.
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Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report鈥檚 35 Most Beautiful College Campuses, Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.