John L. Costello National Criminal Law Trial Advocacy Competition

February 13-15, 2026

Registration for the Fifteenth Annual John L. Costello National Criminal Law Trial Advocacy Competition will open on October 26, 2025 and close on November 21, 2025.

Venue Information about the Costello Competition

The competition will take place on February 13-15, 2026. The entire competition is held in person. The rounds will be held at the Antonin Scalia Law School campus in Arlington, Virginia in the newly constructed Fuse building.

General Information about the Costello Competition

The Costello Competition is uniquely designed by Judge Jonathan Thacher to take participants outside the typical realms of law school competitions. By revealing unknown facts and witnesses as the competition progresses, the Costello Competition simulates the evolving and unexpected nature of real-life criminal trials. This dynamic design provides competitors with a realistic experience as counsel in a criminal trial and an exciting take on trial advocacy. All competition judges are local judges and practitioners, making the competition as realistic as possible. Competitors will use the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Competing schools will be permitted to send at least one team to the Costello Competition. Competitors are side-restricted and teams must consist of only two competitors. Competing schools must also provide one witness per team. Scalia Law Trial Ad will provide all judges and remaining witnesses for the competition. If, for whatever reason, all available slots do not fill up, then schools will be able to register additional teams on a first-come basis. The application to register for Costello Competition will be posted on October 26, 2025.

For any additional questions or information, please contact Michael Loftus at [email protected].