Moot court teammates Aubrey Adams, Matt Cotti, Victoria Gray and Joey Ruggiero took Chapman Law to its best-ever finish in recent years at the Stetson National Pretrial Competition in Florida, on October 5, 2025. This exceptional group of student advocates outperformed schools from across the country to advance to the final round, where they ultimately lost to tournament champions, Texas Tech University School of Law. In addition to their landmark finish, the team also earned the Most Professional team award, voted by their fellow competitors.

Late nights and arduous practice sessions punctuated the road to this podium finish for the Chapman competitors. The Stetson competition is the only national competition that combines mock trial and moot court-style arguments in one contest format. In short, teams must prepare witness examinations, oral arguments, and two briefs and present them successfully to proceed. Coached by Chapman alumnus Katie Robinson (JD ’21), the Chapman advocates practiced three times a week, for five hours or more at a time, leading up to the contest. Reflecting on the tough practice cadence, Adams shared that their preparation for Stetson competition format wasn’t “just about getting the material right,” but was also focused on having the team build the necessary stamina to carry them through to the final rounds of this demanding competition.

Both their morale and their stamina were tested as soon as the competition began. In the first round, Gray and Adams faced Baylor University School of Law and were narrowly defeated by a margin of less than a point. Undeterred, the team rallied, using this razor-thin margin of defeat as motivation for the coming rounds. Cotti and Ruggiero followed up this first-round setback, showing the team’s mettle, with back-to-back wins against Richmond and Tulane.

The quarterfinals saw Chapman advance again, with teammates Gray and Adams going head-to-head against Charleston, winning, and then needing to pivot as they were required to present their entire argument almost immediately upon entering the semifinal rounds. The hours of hard work and preparation leading into the contest paid off as Adams and Gray romped past the number one seed in the semis, the University of Miami, to secure their spot in the finals.

After a nervous night of preparation on Saturday, October 4, teammates Cotti and Ruggiero put up a spirited battle against contest champs Texas Tech in the finals, ultimately falling short after an outstanding team effort to stay in the competition.

In addition to a historic finish in the final round, the Chapman team earned special recognition at the awards ceremony, where they won the Most Professional Team award, a prize voted on by all the competitors, based on their experience of the teams that best exemplify professionalism and courtesy–another well-deserved credit to the team’s hard work and skill, helping kick the 2025-26 competitions year off to a great start.