Greetings Advocate,

Thank you for your interest in the fourteenth annual John L. Costello National Criminal Law Trial Advocacy Competition, taking place on Thursday, February 4 – Sunday, February 7.  

The Costello Competition is designed to simulate the dynamic and unexpected nature of real-life criminal trials by revealing unknown facts and witnesses as the competition progresses.  Created by Judge Jonathan Thacher, this unique format provides competitors with an opportunity to gain realistic experience as counsel in a criminal trial.

The competition trials will be held VIRTUALLY via Zoom. Unless there is a serious turn of events in the fight against Covid-19, the competition will remain virtual. The Association cannot guarantee, but will do everything possible, to make sure there are three judges scoring judges in each courtroom and one scoring layperson.

All competition judges are local judges and practitioners, and our aim, although not guaranteed, is to have the sitting judge preside over each trial.  The Federal Rules of Evidence, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and seminal Criminal Procedure cases apply.  

Each competing team is composed of three members (two advocates and one witness) who will be assigned either the prosecution or defense for the duration of the competition. As a result, teams only need to prepare one side of the case and will have the benefit of preparing a witness, as is typical of most criminal trials. The division of labor within a competing team and between rounds is at the team’s discretion. It is permissible for a competitor to act as a witness in one round and then as counsel in another, or for a competitor to maintain his or her same role throughout the competition. One additional witness for each side will be provided by the Antonin Scalia Law School's Trial Advocacy Association, and teams will receive a brief period before each round to prepare that witness for examination.

Some rules of the registration process have changed. Please read this Application thoroughly and carefully to ensure full understanding of the deadlines and rules discussed therein.

The final application deadline for the Costello Competition is Monday, November 30, 2020.

Additional information, including team assignments and the problem packet, will be communicated by email to competitors on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.  In the meantime, please feel free to contact the Association with any questions or concerns you may have at gmusl.costello@gmail.com.  

We look forward to your participation in the Costello Competition!

Sincerely,

John Mark Mastakas
Vice President of the Costello Competition
Antonin Scalia Law School
J.D. Candidate, 2020

This person, who may be a student or faculty member, will be your law school’s main point of contact for all announcements and correspondence regarding the Competition, including the problem packet. Because this person is responsible for disseminating the information to your school’s team(s), please identify a reliable person who regularly checks his or her email. This person must promptly respond to inquiries from the Association.

Each law school may initially send ONE team to compete in the Costello Competition, unless that school's team participated in the Final Round of the 2020 Competition. If your school participated in the Final Round, please answer "Yes" to the first question, and indicate the number of teams you intend to register in the second question. For all other schools, please answer "No" to the first question and "One" for the second question. Please be advised that the Trial Advocacy Association reviews each Application closely, and any attempt to deceive the Association in order to register more than one team may result in disqualification.

This Application Form serves as a registration placeholder for your law school until the Association receives your Registration Fee payment. Competition spots are reserved on a rolling, first-come basis. The Association MUST receive your payment of the Registration Fee before the registration deadline in order for your team to compete. We encourage schools to apply early.

Should openings in the Competition become available after the registration deadline has passed—for example, if a school fails to submit their registration payment on time—the Association will inform all schools that submitted a timely application of the opening via email. Any schools with one registered team may apply to register a second team. The two schools who placed in the Final Round in 2020 may not register a third team. These applications will be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis. In the event that there is an opening, details will be provided in the email informing you of this opening.

The registration fee is $450 for the first team and $350 for the second team. Please note that we've lowered the registration fees from past years to compensate for the fact that the event is virtual this year.

Below is a link to make your team's payment:
https://secure.touchnet.com:443/C20788_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=660&FROMQRCODE=true&SINGLESTORE=true

To qualify for entry, law schools must furnish all information requested in the Application Form. Please note that competing schools are not officially registered until the Association has received both this Application and your Registration Fee. Once a team submits this Application, all future correspondence will be sent to the designated Contact Person and Faculty Advisor.  

The Association is able to accept both checks and credit cards. Payment will be requested via email once your registration application is processed. Since the Association will be accepting teams on first-come, first-serve basis in the order that it receives Registration Applications, we ask that schools do not attempt to send payment until they receive their acceptance email. Additional details, including how to submit payments and the total cost for registration, will be provided via the acceptance email.

Teams may cancel their registration at any time. For a full refund, cancellation must be requested by December 31, 2020, to allow the Association to find a replacement team. Cancellation that occurs from January 1, 2021 to January 29, 2021 - will be subject to a limited refund at the discretion of the Costello Vice President. Teams that fail to attend the Competition without informing the Association of their cancellation will be disqualified from participating in future Competitions and will not receive a refund.

Once you submit this Application, the Association will contact you confirming receipt of the Application and supplying information regarding payment of the Registration Fee. Before submitting, please be sure to read over this Application thoroughly and review your responses for accuracy.

You have the option to receive a copy of this Application, including your responses, at the email address you offered above the Competition Description. We encourage you to retain this copy for your records, as the rules and deadlines outlined in this Application are binding on all applicants. Failure to adhere to the rules in this Application may delay or disqualify your registration.

If you have any questions regarding this Application or the Competition, please feel free to contact the Association at gmusl.costello@gmail.com.