Competitions
Every year, the AMCA sponsors approximately 20 tournaments, including qualifying tournaments and national tournaments. During the 2023-2024 competition season, nearly 1,000 undergraduate students from more than a hundred colleges and universities competed in seventeen regional qualifying tournaments to earn a slot to the National Championship Tournament. More than 120 teams from over 40 schools participated in the Preliminary Rounds of the National Tournament.
AMCA Board Member and Tournament Director John Rudisill performs the coin toss for the semi finals match up between the team Brenna Reagan and Ava Savelkoul of Loyola University Chicago (left) and Sydnee Coggins and Ryann Rippey of Morehouse College (right) at the Midwest Regional Tournament at the College of Wooster in Fall 2023.
2024-2025 Qualifying Tournaments: Schedule
This schedule is considered finalized as of August 29, 2024.
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Schools MUST submit a school authorization letter from an appropriate representative from their institution that meets AMCA guidelines. Once the authorization letter is approved by the AMCA, the AMCA will provide the point of contact at the school with the password necessary to complete the annual AMCA member school registration. Member school registration must occur before any teams from that school may register for AMCA qualifying tournaments. Upon completion of the annual registration, schools will be given a password to access the qualifying tournament registration page. Attempting to register a team for a qualifying tournament prior to completion of the annual AMCA school registration may result in disqualification of a school or team from competition.
Each 2-person team may only register for one individual qualifying tournament. Attempting to register a 2-person team or an individual at more than one qualifying tournament is a violation of AMCA rules and may result in disqualification of the school or team from competition and/or a ban from future AMCA competitions. Each qualifying tournament assesses a registration fee per 2-person team, which must be paid upon registration.
The fee for all regional qualifying tournaments will be $200 per 2-student team.
REGISTRATION FEES ARE NON REFUNDABLE. Please only register for slots you know you will use. The AMCA wants to provide opportunities to as many students as possible and over-registration early in the season can discourage those who are unable to secure slots.
To further encourage schools to only register slots they know they will need, and to communicate with AMCA as soon as possible if they do need to drop a team from a competition, the AMCA instituted withdrawal penalties. In short, in addition to loss of the initial registration fees, drops occurring less than 14 days before the start of the tournament will incur a penalty.
Slots at individual qualifying tournaments will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, per the registration waves indicated below. Once a qualifying tournament has reached capacity, no additional registrations will be permitted for that qualifying tournament. AMCA intends to maintain waitlists for tournaments.
Key Dates:
July 1, 2024 - AMCA member school registration opens for schools whose Authorization Letters are approved. Once an authorized school registers with the AMCA and pays the $50 registration fee, the designated contact person will be provided a password for registration at qualifying tournaments
September 3, 2024 - Registration opens. A school can register up to five (5) teams in regional qualifying tournaments during the first week of registration.
September 9, 2024 - Week 2 of registration. A school can register up to five (5) more teams in regional qualifying tournaments.
September 16, 2024 - Week 3 of registration. A school can register up to five (5) more teams in regional qualifying tournaments.
September 23, 2024 - Week 4 of registration and beyond. A school can register as many teams as they wish in regional qualifying tournaments (subject to school caps at specific tournaments).
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October 25-26: Fearless Challenge Regional
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Memphis
October 26-27: Sunshine State Regional
NOVA Southeastern, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Memphis
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November 1-2: Empire State Regional
Albany Law School, Albany, NY
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Memphis
November 2-3: Western Regional
Fresno State, Fresno, CA
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: New Mexico
November 2-3: City of Angels Regional
USC, Los Angeles, CA
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: New Mexico
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November 8-9: Great Lakes Regional
Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, MI
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Houston
November 8-9: South Atlantic Regional
University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Slots: 24 slots
AMCA's per school team cap: 3
PRONT: Memphis
November 9-10: Elm City Regional
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Slots: 28
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Kentucky
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November 16-17: D.C. Regional
Georgetown University, Washington DC
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Houston
November 16-17: Capital Classic
Capital Law School/Thiel College, Columbus, OH
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Houston
November 16-17: South Texas Regional
Texas A&M University School of Law, Ft Worth, TX
Slots: 24
AMCA's per school team cap: 3
PRONT: New Mexico
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November 22-23: Eastern Regional
Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA
Slots: 46
AMCA's per school team cap: 5
PRONT: Kentucky
November 22-23: Midwest Regional
College of Wooster, Wooster, OH
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Houston
November 23-24: Golden Gate Regional
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Slots: 32
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: New Mexico
November 23-24: Windy City Regional
Benedictine University, Chicago, IL
Slots: 28
AMCA's per school team cap: 4
PRONT: Kentucky
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December 7-8: Northeastern Regional
College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
Slots: 24
AMCA's per school team cap: 3
PRONT: Kentucky
2024-2025 National Tournaments: Schedule
Preliminary Rounds of the National Tournament (PRONTs)
University of Houston Law Center, Houston, Texas - January 10-11, 2025
(Regionals scheduled for Houston PRONT: DC Regional, Capital Classic, Midwest Regional, Great Lakes Regional)
Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law - The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN - January 10-11, 2025
(Regionals scheduled for Memphis PRONT: South Atlantic Regional, Sunshine State Regional, Fearless Challenge, Empire State Regional)
University of New Mexico School of Law, Albuquerque, NM - January 25-26, 2025
(Regionals scheduled for New Mexico PRONT: Western Regional, City of Angels Regional, South Texas Regional, Golden Gate Regional)
J. David Rosenberg College of Law - University of Kentucky/Berea College, Lexington, KY - January 25-26, 2025
(Regionals scheduled for Kentucky PRONT: Elm City Regional, Eastern Regional, Windy City Regional, Northeastern Regional)
Final Round of the National Tournament (FRONT)
Texas Tech University School of Law, Lubbock, TX - February 14-15, 2025
2024-2025 Brief Writing Competition: Deadlines
Registration: All brief writing teams must be registered with the AMCA prior to entering the competition. Teams will purchase one brief registration at a time from the AMCA website. The registration fee is $25 per brief. Registration will open by November 18 and must be completed by 5pm CT on Thursday, December 5, 2024.
Teams will receive a confirmation number for each order, which must be entered on each brief’s eligibility form.
Submission: Teams must submit their brief and the brief eligibility form in one email (but separate PDFs) to appellatebriefs@amcamootcourt.org by 5pm CT on Monday, December 9, 2024.
Click here to download the brief eligibility form.
See our Resources page for instructions, templates, and all related rules.
Announcement: We anticipate announcing results of the brief competition in February 2025.
Results: 2023 - 2024
2024 Oral Advocacy National Champions Kit Beyer and Andy Beyer of UC Berkeley pictured here with the judges from the final round (Justice Phil Johnson (Texas Supreme Court, ret.), Justice Larry Doss (Court of Appeals in Amarillo), Jack Wade Nowlin, the Dean of Texas Tech School of Law, Justice Evan Young (Texas Supreme Court) and Justice Maricela Breedlove (Court of Appeals in Dallas)) and the coaches from UC Berkeley. The 2024 Final Rounds of the National Tournament were held at Texas Tech University School of Law.
Calvin Huh and Trinity Klomparens of Patrick Henry College were the 2024 Petitioner National Champions in the Brief Competition.
Olivia Clarke and Mayuu Kashimura of San Francisco State University were the 2024 Respondent National Champions in the Brief Competition.
AMCA President Michael Walsh presents the 2024 Individual Orator National Champion award to Emma Scharstein from Liberty University.
2023 - 2024 National Tournaments:
Results
Final Round of the National Tournament (FRONT)
Texas Tech University School of Law - February 9-10, 2024
Champion: Kit Beyer and Andy Beyer, University of California, Berkeley
Runner up: Ainsley Stellman and Jason Chahyadi, Patrick Henry College
Semi-Finalists:
Trinity Klomparens and Calvin Huh, Patrick Henry College
Morgan Barragan and Ivonne Sotelo, California State University, Long Beach
Quarter-Finalists:
Lucia Zhang and Ryan Tung, University of Southern California
Sean Ignatuk and Natalie Swetlin, University of California, Santa Barabara
Sarah Fox and Finneas Buck, Patrick Henry College
Colton Hughes and Emerson Allen, Liberty University
Octo-Finalist:
Andrew Bleiler and James Elliot, Patrick Henry College
Will Leggat and Jenesis Nwainokor, Yale University
Anna Guzman and Emeline Wright, University of Chicago
Thomas Davies and Michael Kish, University of Virginia
Kyle Lewis and Quinn Moss, Yale University
Emma Scharstein and Riley Banker, Liberty University
Caleb Aridano and Megan Crowley, University of Louisville
Miles Kirkpatrick and Samhita Kumar, Yale University
Individual Orator Rankings:
1st: Emma Scharstein, Liberty University (394)
2nd: Riley Banker, Liberty University (392.6667)
3rd: Emerson Allen, Liberty University (391.5556)
4th: Colton Hughes, Liberty University (391.4444)
5th: Jason Chahyadi, Patrick Henry College (391)
6th: Trysten Rampersand, Stetson University (390.2222)
7th: Ainsley Stellman, Patrick Henry College (389.6667)
8th: Calvin Huh, Patrick Henry College (389.2222)
9th: Ojas Sandhu, University of California, San Diego (389)
10th: Jenesis Nwainokpor, Yale University (388.6667)
11th: Quinn Moss, Yale University (388.1111)
12th: Katelyn Lucius, University of California, San Diego (388)
13th: Natalie Swetlin, University of California, Santa Barbara (387.7778)
14th: Wyatt Sise, Stetson University (387.1111)
14th: Lucia Zhang, University of Southern California (387.1111)
Preliminary Rounds of the National Tournament (PRONTs)
NOVA Southeastern - January 13-14, 2024
Champion: Quinn Moss and Kyle Lewis, Yale University (12.6)
Runner Up: Andrew Bleiler and James Elliott, Patrick Henry College (11.60)
Semi finalists:
Thomas Davies and Michael Kish, University of Virginia (8.34)
Ava McDonough and Noah Sullivan, College of the Holy Cross (7.33)
Quarter finalists:
Ainsley Stellman and Jason Chahyadi, Patrick Henry College (8.67)
Finneas Buck and Sarah Fox, Patrick Henry College (8.34)
Jenesis Nwainokpor and Will Leggat, Yale University (7.33)
Miles Kirkpatrick and Samhita Kumar, Yale University (6)
"Next out"
Octo finalists:
Owen Garvey and Sophia Leonard, College of the Holy Cross (5)
Jacob West and Julian Cope, University of Central Florida (4.67)
Claire McDonald and Alice Wanamaker, Williams College (4.33)
LSU Law - January 13-14, 2024
Champion: Calvin Huh and Trinity Klomparens, Patrick Henry College (11.66)
Runner Up: Emerson Allen and Colton Hughes, Liberty University (11.60)
Semi finalists:
Riley Banker and Emma Scharstein, Liberty University (8.80)
Kavya Venugopalan and Kara Curtis, The University of Texas at Dallas (6.13)
Quarter finalists:
Ben McKay and Hannah Cavanaugh, Regent University (6.60)
"Next out"
Octo finalists:
Trysten Rampersand and Wyatt Sise, Stetson University (6.17)
Jordan Gebrian and Farnoz Norouzi, California State University, Long Beach (5.34)
Caleb Helsing and Rebecca Phillips, Patrick Henry College (5.33)
Berea/UK Law - January 19-20, 2024
Champion: Emeline Wright and Anna Guzman, University of Chicago (11.47)
Runner Up: Caleb Aridano and Megan Crowley, University of Louisville (11.39)
Semi finalists:
Quarter finalists:
Emma Nelson and Jocelyn Colpitts, California State University, Long Beach (6.67)
Riley Revilla and Caroline Davisson, University of Maryland (6)
Sophia Ekstrom and Cameron Vis, Liberty University (5.33)
Jane Paden and Jason Bryant, California State University Fullerton (5)
"Next out"
Octo finalists:
Ryann Rippey and Sydnee Coggins, Morehouse College (5.67)
Josiah Lorence and Olivia Green, Patrick Henry College (4.67)
Brenna Reagan and Ava Savelkoul, Loyola University Chicago (4)
UNLV Law - January 20-21, 2024
Champion: Andy Beyer and Kit Beyer, University of California, Berkeley (10.60)
Runner Up: Guy Wilks and Natalie Swetlin, University of California, Santa Barbara (8.06)
Semi finalists:
Kara Keathley and Zach Brewer, Colorado Christian University (7.83)
Morgan Barragan and Ivonne Sotelo, California State University, Long Beach (7.83)
Quarter finalists:
Ryan Tung and Lucia Zhang, University of Southern California (7.33)
Tristan Worsham and Margaret Lin, University of California, Berkeley (7)
Anastacia Son and Byul Sak, University of California, San Diego (5)
Ojas Sandhu and Katelyn Lucius, University of California, San Diego (4.83)
"Next out"
Octo finalists:
Paige Barrella and Sam Ratcliffe, University of California, Berkeley (6.67)
Alexa Alvarez and Stevie De La Fuente, California State University, Long Beach (5.17)
Joshua Arp and Sean Ignatuk, University of California, Santa Barbara (5.17)