Unscripted Direct

The trial competition season begins this week! And so does our Question of the Week  competition. In this episode: (00:36) Season Storylines: Spencer and Justin preview six big storylines for the new competition season. (13:24) Question of the Week : It's teammate v. teammate. Cumberland's Matt Woodham v. Spenser Templeton. We interrogate Matt about his celebrity doppelganger and Spenser...

Welcome to Season 3! (0:00:38) Wins, Weddings, and What's Next. Spencer and Justin catch up on their summer exploits -- and preview their plans for this season of the podcast. Spoiler: Question of the Week is back, but with a twist. (0:14:24) New Faces, New Places . We publicize some directors and coaches in new roles and chat with three of them: McGeorge's Annie Deets, Texas's Mike...

Ending the season with some fun! (0:00:49) Introduction . A bet is a bet, EATS awards, Fall Zoom predictions, and “Mr. Pahlke, you’re unprepared, son.”  (0:12:07) TOC invitations .  Judge Roberts announces the 16 schools invited to Tournament of Champions 2022.  (0:21:50) EATS Preview . Liz Boals shares what’s in store at Stetson's summer conference.  (0:27:08) Fingers crossed! We ask Rich Sc...

They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. This week's motion in limine puts that to the test ... (0:00:37) Spencer performs manual labor, and Justin recommends a TV show. (0:04:12) Mailbag . We answer two good questions and one mean one from TYLA's Brandon Draper.  (0:08:30)  Breaking News! Baylor's Rob Little announces the 16 schools that will compete in Top Gun 2022...

It's a monster episode! (0:01:35) We start with our "greatest achievement" and then discuss a competition oddity. (0:10:35) The Break. We talk about the intense format of South Carolina's Trials and Tribulations, announce results, and share some wisdom from a final round judge. (0:17:12) Motion in Limine. Kellie Casey talks about her two decades at Georgia and her beloved Bulld...

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...

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...

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...

(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....

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 whet...

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 (prev...

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...

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...

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 th...

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 Minu...

With the National Trial Competition kicking off today -- six regionals this weekend! -- we are devoting this week's episode to the Texas Young Lawyers Association.  (0:00:47) Spencer and Justin discuss the launch of NTC 2022.  (0:03:33) We spotlight the National Trial League, with guest Todd Berger from Syracuse, who describes the most intense trial competition in the country -- and announces...

(00:56) Spencer names a tournament after himself, and Justin has some questions. (07:47) Frankie DiGiacco from University of San Diego takes the bench as our guest judge for Motions in Limine. Our main interview is with Temple's Sara Jacobson. (26:04) Sara talks about her career arc (she originally planned to be a prosecutor!), holding practice during storms and parades, her aggression behind...

We kick off Season 2!  (00:51) We make some predictions for the new year. (10:43) We introduce a new segment, Motions in Limine, with judge-of-the-week Professor Ramona Albin from Cumberland. (28:13) And, for our main interview, Spencer speaks to Judge David Erickson from Chicago Kent.  Judge Erickson talks about getting hit by nuns, his baseball career, his career as a lawyer (did you know he los...

To help you get through exam-grading, endless gift shopping, and general trial ad withdrawal, we've got a special episode of Unscripted Direct to bridge the gap to Season Two (which debuts in January). We're calling this the Little Holiday Special because we were joined by the incomparable Robert Little. Robert tells us which monikers he prefers (spoiler: don't call him "Rob&qu...

Our last episode of Season 1!  (0:00:33) Introduction: Spencer and Justin talk about how making a podcast differed from their expectations.    (0:05:32) Interview with Mike Kelly, name partner at our flagship sponsor, Walkup Melodia Kelly & Schoenberger.    (0:18:08) The Break: Results from Georgetown's White Collar competition.    (0:19:20) Spotlight: Fordham's Kelly Competition, wi...

In our penultimate episode of the season: We spotlight three competitions: Tournament of Champions (Gina Gerardi, Loyola), the 64-school All Star Bracket Challenge Finals (A.J. Bellido de Luna, St. Mary's), and All Star National (Rob McFarland, Faulkner) We announce the three winners of the Mock Madness prediction contest Spencer and Justin talk about their teams facing in an important final...

This week on Unscripted Direct: We spotlight three competitions: Golden Gate's In Vino Veritas, Quinnipiac's ABA criminal competition, and Davis's MLK Civil Rights tournament. We share who made The Break at the Best in Texas mock trial competition We discuss the live v. virtual poll results from Professor Epstein Justin gets a cheering section for Question of the Week, but is it eno...

This week's episode is loaded: Spencer interviews Brett Bayne, the director South Carolina's program. Brett talks about why he often keeps teams together for multiple semesters, the gaudiest thing in his office, how he feels the AAJ competition, and whether he thinks his program is underrated. We spotlight the Buffalo Niagara competition. Jennifer Scharf and Stephen Soos tell us about a...

This week on Unscripted Direct: Our main interview: I spoke to Sara Williams, a trial attorney and adjunct professor at Cumberland. She's funny, poignant, and always real. Sara describes how she found advocacy, how Judge Roberts ruined her street cred, how much she loves her two French bulldogs. Todd Berger joins us for our most candid Tournament Spotlight, where he talks about what went well...

 This week on Unscripted Direct: Spencer interviews Dean Zelda Harris of Loyola-Chicago. Dean Harris talks about her career as an advocate for domestic violence victims, how she became dean (during a pandemic!), how she diversified their advocacy program, how Loyola integrates 1Ls into the program, and -- most controversially -- why baseball is better for kids than soccer. A loyal listener submits...