Two teams from Chicago-Kent College of Law achieved victory at the 2025 National Trial Competition regionals held at their home campus from February 7 to 9. The competition, co-sponsored by the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Texas Young Lawyers Association, is recognized for its complexity as it requires participants to prepare arguments for both sides of a legal issue.
This year's case involved negligence claims resulting from a severe car accident between a young family and a semi-truck. Ella Youash and Samantha Lehman formed one team, while Ivy Ramirez and Serena Napolitano made up the other. Both teams impressed judges with their litigation skills, ultimately securing wins against students from Washington University Law School, Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, among others. Napolitano and Youash also received Best Advocate awards in their respective categories.
The success means that both teams will advance to the national level, aiming to secure Chicago-Kent's fifth overall win in this prestigious competition. Historically, at least one team from Chicago-Kent has reached the finals 31 times over four decades. This marks the third occasion where both regional spots were claimed by Chicago-Kent teams. Their last national win was in 2015.
The teams benefited from guidance provided by coaches David Erickson, Director of the Chicago-Kent Trial Advocacy Program, along with Maeghann Hoal, Sean Nevin, and Siri Arends Graham.