FIU wins back to back AAJ regional championships
FIU Trial Team captured the Annapolis Regional competition of the AAJ 2026 Student Trial Advocacy Competition. From the left are Michael Leatherman, Benjamin Sly, Judge Ginina A. Jackson-Stevenson, Callie Moore, and Rachel Cross
FIU Trial Team members Rachel Cross, Michael Leatherman, and Benjamin Sly 3Ls, and Callie Moore 2L, won the Annapolis Regional competition of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) 2026 Student Trial Advocacy Competition.
They beat in this order — Stetson, Georgetown, Florida, Regent, and St. Thomas. FIU has now won the AAJ Regionals four of the last five years — 2022, 2023, 2025, and now 2026.
"This Trial Team was clearly the best at getting better. Every practice and every match they got measurable better," Professor H.T. Smith said. "Their stories became more interesting. Their theories became more persuasive. Their themes became more moral and memorable. And their confidence and courage became more ingrained in their belief systems."
The case file for this year’s competition featured a wrongful death claim brought against a corporation that owned and managed a shopping mall with a parking lot. The family of a 75-year-old deceased plaintiff alleged that he tripped over an exposed sprinkler head, struck his head and died and that owner of the parking lot was negligent for failing to provide adequate lighting in the parking lot and by failing to remove the dangerously exposed sprinkler head. The owner of the parking lot claimed that the deceased was comparatively negligent because he had too much to drink before he tripped and fell over the sprinkler.
The team was coached by Trial Team alumni Alexander Pollock and TerryAnn Howell, and Professor Smith.
The AAJ Regional 2026 championship comes just two months after FIU Law Trial Team won the Chester Bedell Memorial Mock Trial Competition.
