Published on February 7, 2017  
Kingsley Okpara Best Opening Statement NTC 2017

Over the weekend, a team from Cumberland School of Law made the Final Round of the National Trial Competition Regional Tournament. The team of Curtis Seal and Bianca Svensson beat teams from St. Thomas University School of Law, the University of Florida Levin College of Law, the University of Alabama School of law and Faulkner University's Jones School of Law on the way to the Final Round. Seal and Svensson lost a close, hard-fought final round by one vote against the host school, Stetson University School of Law, narrowly missing becoming the tenth Cumberland team to advance to nationals in the past nine years. Drew Bentley and Keith Stephens served as witnesses for the team.

The team of Drew Panella, Kingsley Okpara and Amanda Wineman also participated in the competition. Okpara won Best Opening Statement for the preliminary rounds (pictured at right). Ben Keen as the witness for this team.

Both teams were coached by Judge Jim Roberts, Sara Williams, Ross Massey and Jeremy Hazleton.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.