Unscripted Direct

Five competitions, a four-word mantra, three guests, two underrated schools, and one question from the mailbag.

(0:00:44) Spencer and Justin chat about the new US News Trial Advocacy rankings -- and each pick one school that's under-ranked. (0:07:34) Tournament Spotlight: Carlos Concepcion shares the results of Interamerican's Puerto Rico Trial Advocacy Competition. (0:11:39) Tournament Spotlight: Judge Jim Roberts talks about what made STAC 2022 a success and then shares the results of  STAC Nationals. (0:22:16)  The Break! Spencer adds some absurd music, as we announce results from the South Texas Challenge, St. John's Civil Rights, and GW's Estrella. (0:24:14) Mailbag Question. Spencer forgets to book a judge for this week's motion in limine judge, so we turn to a question from Golden Gate's Rachel Brockl. What is the best method to get students off notes?  (00:28:39) The Big Interview: Syracuse's Joanne Van Dyke. Joanne talks about her work as a plaintiff's attorney, her favorite phone calls from alums, her work on the TOC Committee, her program's mantra ("good luck, don't suck"), and more.

A special episode -- our first time recording on location!

(0:00:33) Spencer recaps his time in Fort Worth. Justin talks about his debut as a wedding officiant.  (0:05:45) Motion in Limine. Mercer's Katie Powers tells us about her career as a prosecutor and judge, as well as her experience coaching a high school powerhouse and her law school alma mater. Then, she takes the bench -- and makes a game-changing ruling. (0:20:50) Live from Texas! From the welcome reception to the big announcement to the post-tournament celebration, Spencer interviews a dozen directors, coaches, and advocates at the National Trial Competition. They talk about what it's like to be back in person, the new evidence added mid-tournament, and the results. 

For the first time since 2019, NTC Finals is back in person ... and it starts today!

(0:00:33) Spencer and Justin each share some exciting news, as well as their plans for the trip to Texas. (0:11:04) Motion in Limine with Texas Southern's Tim Adams. Tim talks about his career as a prosecutor, his work as a coach, his future with NTC/TYLA, and his experience coaching a historically black law school. He then poses a question about defeat.  (0:35:54) The Big Interview: UMKC's Rafe Foreman. Justin interviewed Rafe right after his latest jury trial victory. He talks about his time as a student and instructor at Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyer's College; the most memorable verdict of his career; his biggest weakness as a trial lawyer; and how he tries cases with Parkinson's. He tells Justin what question he should have asked (after all, Rafe is a podcaster himself!), and he demonstrates his skill as an auctioneer.

(0:00:38) Every episode has a Pahlke. For the first time, we welcome a Top Ten Pahlke! (0:13:26) Motion in Limine with Catholic's Lindsey Cloud Mervis and John Sharifi. A week before the first in-person NTC Nationals since 2019, we check in with the coaches who won that tournament. They talk about their successful careers and what it was like to win it all. Lindsey puts Justin in his place. And then we turn to this week's question. (0:37:57) The Big Interview with Jules Epstein. Temple's advocacy director talks about his career goal of becoming a radical lawyer, his style in the courtroom, his promise to a man on death row, his relationship with Eddie Ohlbaum, how he got the job at Temple, and what it was like to reach #1 in US News last year. He talks about his career as a DJ(!) and his coaching technique of borrowing a stranger's dog (!!). And he answers all seven of Justin's questions about the mustache.

Major news from one of the two largest competitions. And an inside story from the other.

(0:00:33) Report Card: STAC Regionals. We celebrate the huge improvement in AAJ's tournament! Justin checks in with South Carolina's Brett Bayne. Spencer tries to explain why he was the only host  to need a ghost ballot (and explains how he avoids confrontation in everyday life). And we discuss whether AAJ's 2022 success is sustainable.  (0:27:37)  The Break. We congratulate the 20 teams headed to STAC Nationals!  (0:30:07) NTC Nationals. We go inside one of the most heartening stories of the season -- the 72 hours that changed NTC Nationals. It's a victory for community collaboration and TYLA responsiveness. Case Western's Bradley Oaumbo joins us.  (1:02:00) Motion in Limine with South Dakota's Laura Rose. Laura tells us how she built a huge program at a school with such a small student body, introduces us to chislic, and reveals how she will defeat her father when South Dakota and Ohio Northern eventually face. Then she judges a motion in limine. We entered 4-4; who will take the lead? (1:26:30) Since this episode was already lengthy, we are saving the Main Interview for Episode 25. But we finish with a few hints about next week's illustrious guest...

Three great guests, each joining us for the first time!  (0:00:43) AAJ's Student Trial Advocacy Competition. With 300 trials in the next four days, we talk about our expectations for the weekend of regionals. (0:10:54) Vania Smith talks about winning the last in-person NTC, as well as the ideas that won her Stetson's Writing Competition. (0:45:58) Motion in Limine with Erika Storms (previously Erika McCardle). Erika is one of the most candid guests we've had, sharing genuine moments from her time at Stetson, her departure, and huge changes in her personal life. Then she poses a hypothetical question for her Motion in Limine. (1:13:58)
The Big Interview: Justin sits down with Pace's Lou Fasulo. Lou picks the proudest win of his legal career and the proudest win of his coaching career. He shares his thoughts -- from inside the protest committee! -- on Jared's 12 Angry Minutes. He tells us about his family's history in the food industry and his growing restaurant empire. And he admits he has some ... challenges using email (the first step is admitting you have a problem).

Our toughest Motion in Limine judge -- and the funniest interview we've had yet.

(0:00:34) Introduction. Spencer gets his hands dirty. Justin visits his college co-counsel. (0:02:54) Tournament Spotlights. UF's Aaron Kelley joins us to share results from the Florida National Trial Advocacy Tournament. American's Joe Lester tells us about the results from Capitol City Challenge and the most ... uncomfortable fact pattern of the season. (0:16:41) The Break. The last six spots at NTC Nationals get filled. The Prosecution makes a comeback! (Sorta.) We say goodbye to State v. Williams. (0:20:35) The Mailbag. A mea culpa from last week and a new question this week from Drexel's Phil Pasquarello. (0:28:17) Motion in Limine. Megan Chaney from Nova Southeastern is our guest judge. Most of our judges say, "This was so close, you both gave great answers!" Not Megan. (0:50:13) The Big Interview: We talk to Quinnipiac's Sean McGuinness and Ryan O'Neill. We start with the appetizers: Is Sean a legitimate New Englander? How much does Ryan enjoy beating Harvard Law School? When they competed together in law school, who put Sean on the B team? And then the main course: The Newlywed Game. 

Controversial opinions, personal revelations, and the best competition news this community has had since  2020! 

(0:00:36) We talk about a weekend full of NTC protests. Justin then borrows Spencer's soapbox and protests  how some protest committees approach invention of fact. (0:11:13) Breaking News! TYLA's Ashley Hymel and Brandon Draper join us to discuss the biggest  trial competition news in two years: It's official. NTC Finals will be in person. We talk about how TYLA made the decision and  what nationals will look like. Justin sneaks in a question about case balance ...  (0:35:54) The Break: We congratulate eight more teams who advanced to NTC Finals and see if the prosecution had any more luck on weekend #3. (0:40:31) Mailbag - Quinnipiac's Sean McGuinness asks "How do you balance a criminal case?", Spencer lays a 702 foundation, and Justin offers an opinion.  (0:52:12) Motion in Limine: Guest judge Grant Rost from Liberty tells us about his teaching and blogging career, before posing the most revealing question we've gotten yet.   (01:14:06) Big Interview: UMKC's Michaelle Tobin tells us how adopting a son brought her back to Kansas City and how a two-year fellowship turned into a teaching career. And she talks about three legends: what it was like working with Rafe Foreman, how she was inspired by Clarence Darrow, and what she learned from Gerry Spence (who some say was named after Spencer Pahlke).

This week we've got some big names, a big announcement, and a big story. 

(00:00:51) Introduction.  Some interrogation based on a question raised by a few listeners... (00:02:54) The Protest Committee. Loyola's Susan Poehls and Baylor's Rob Little  discuss the issue raised last episode by Jared Rosenblatt: Is reading on Zoom a rules violation?   (00:22:47)  The Break. We announce the results from Southern Classic, congratulate the four teams who earned bids to NTC Nationals, and check in on the case balance from the second weekend of NTC regionals.  (00:31:03)  Motion in Limine, with guest judge Annie Deets. Since 2010, Annie has been teaching at Emory Law. Find out where she's headed this Fall!  (00:54:55)  Our main story: AAJ/STAC: Past, Present, and Future. It's the history of AAJ's Student Trial Advocacy Competition, why the competition has struggled recently (our guest  pull no punches), and how they've taken real steps to improve it for 2022. We talk to AAJ's incoming president Tad Thomas, Cumberland's Judge Jim Roberts, Liberty's Pam Bell, Baylor's Dave Deaconson, and South Carolina's Brett Bayne.  Spencer narrates, and Justin causes trouble.

This episode gets spicy! (0:00:44) Justin survived a weekend of co-hosting NTC regionals. (0:02:20) The Break. We congratulate the 24 finalists and the 12 teams that earned bids to Nationals during NTC's opening weekend. We dig into the numbers -- 700 ballots -- to talk about the case imbalance. And Justin discovers he's been mispronouncing a word his whole life. (0:08:04) 12 Angry Minutes with Jared Rosenblatt. Hofstra's coach vents about the first weekend of regionals, including case imbalance, a protest committee decision, and whether scrolling in a Google doc violates the teleprompter rule.  (0:32:48) Motion in Limine, with guest judge Kevin Kita from Akron. This week's question forces the contestants to brag a little. Can Spencer do it?? (0:59:04) The Big Interview, with Hon. Christine Weems, director of Houston's trial ad program. Judge Weems talks about her one-of-a-kind career: lawyer, podcaster, actor, judge, mom, and theatre director.  She tells us how her family fled Vietnam, what it was like campaigning for judicial election, how she directed a play involving a robot, and how a board game inspired her career choice.