Suffolk Law Students Win National Trial Competition Regional Championship
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Suffolk Law students Jordan Marie Moore, Class of 2026, and Colleen Joyce, Class of 2025, captured the championship at the National Trial Competition New England Regionals this month. Moore was also named Best Advocate. Their victories marked a triumphant milestone for both students, who had spent months preparing their case.
The National Trial Team has a storied history of successes under the leadership of Professor Tim Wilton, who has guided numerous teams to championships over the years. The school's trial advocacy program is ranked No. 31 nationally by U.S. News & World Report.
En route to the championship, the Suffolk team defeated Vermont Law, University of Maine, and Harvard, before triumphing over Quinnipiac in the final round.
For the student winners, the path to victory required mastering distinct challenges: Moore learned to move beyond factual and complete arguments to communicate more engagingly with jurors, while Joyce developed the calm needed to handle rapid-fire judicial questioning.
Despite always knowing she wanted to be a lawyer, Joyce once struggled with public speaking. Now, through her work with the trial team and as a student attorney in Suffolk's Prosecutors Clinic, she's developed a confidence that allows her to handle curveballs at trial. "That comfort level is essential," says Joyce, who will join the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office after graduation.
The team's journey to the regional championship began in December, with rigorous weekend practice sessions running from 9:30 AM until evening. Under the guidance of Wilton, Tom Beauvais, JD ’10, a former regional champion in various major moot courts himself, and assistant coach Jordan Temples JD ’23, now an assistant district attorney in Plymouth County, the two women honed their trial skills through full trial runs and improvisational exercises that got them more comfortable with raising objections.
Moore recalls a particularly effective piece of coaching when she was wrestling with self-doubt before a crucial round. Beauvais told her, “They can't beat you. All you have to do is let yourself win. Lay out the case that you built, and you will win.” The competition offered lessons in communicating with jurors, she said. "I learned how to humanize my approach. Not just saying things that sound good, but being able to reconnect with the jurors."
The case at the competition centered on a civil negligence claim arising from a tragic accident involving a passenger vehicle and an 18-wheeler truck. Teams had to navigate complex issues of vicarious liability while managing sensitive facts—including the death of a child and the paralysis of another.
As the team prepares for the nationals in Texas, both advocates are already making their mark. Through the Prosecutors Clinic, Joyce second-chaired a domestic violence trial, while Moore, as a Marshall Brennan Fellow, recently guided one of her high school constitutional law students to the finals of a moot court competition at the U.S. District Court.
"I learned that court is somewhere I need to be," says Moore. "I'm thriving in that environment."