Spring 2026 Audition Information
Tryouts for spots on the Temple Trial Team are held in the spring and possibly again in early fall semester. All students who will be 2Ls or more as of August 23, 2026, may audition for these spots.
For the spring (April ‘26) audition, you will give an opening statement [either side] and a direct-examination (1Ls) or a cross-examination (2Ls) from a fact pattern entitled Commonwealth v. Alexis Carter. You will have approximately 5 minutes for your opening statement, although you need/should not attempt to complete the entire opening in 5 minutes. You may be interrupted and asked to address a particular part of the case and how it bears on the argument. You will have an additional 5 minutes to conduct the direct or cross-examination. You may also be asked to speak extemporaneously about a topic of our choosing. Finally, you may be interviewed about your background, schedule and commitment.
Tryout Materials
Tryouts are scheduled for Thursday, April 23, 2026 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Friday, April 24, 2026 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. If any of these time slots do not work with your schedule, please email Professor Lippy at elippy@temple.edu and we will accommodate a different time slot.
You can sign up for a 15 minute time slot at this link –
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C48AAAD2BAAF8CE9-62992892-2026
When all of the Spring auditions have been completed, students may request individual feedback. Announcements about who makes the teams will not be made until late May, 2026.
Tryouts will determine who is invited to Temple’s end-of-summer Boot Camp, a week-long program designed to prepare students to try cases and win competitions.
Information Session & Training
Attend the information session Professors Lippy and Epstein will be hosting on Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. The information session provides more information about what it means to be a trial team member. Additionally, Professor Lippy will give instruction about how to prepare and give an opening statement and how to conduct a direct or cross examination. For those of you unavailable to attend this information session live, it will be streamed via Zoom and recorded for you to watch at your convenience. The Zoom link will be provided to you via email. Thus, you must register to attend whether you plan to attend in person or via zoom.
Additionally, you can learn more about how to conduct an opening statement by watching the below pre-recorded lectures and materials:
Opening Statement Lecture and Demonstrations
Opening Statements Narrated PowerPoint
(You must download the presentation to hear the narration.)
Opening Statements Articles_NITA 2018
Optimizing and Using Exhibits Lecture
Direct Examination Basics Lecture
Cross Examination Basics Lecture
Zoom Final Trial of Mock Trial Competition from Fall 2020
Video Samples of Openings and Closings