Order of Barristers

Applications available!

Order of Barristers applications are now available.  See below for all the information.  If you’d like an application, please email Jennifer Ellis at jellis@law.tamu.edu.

The Order of Barristers is a recognized national, honorary organization that encourages the development of oral and written advocacy skills through effective law school programs by formally recognizing the best advocates these programs produce. 

Application Criteria:

  • All students graduating in 1) December 2019; 2) May 2020; or 3) July 2020 are eligible to apply.
  • An applicant must be in good academic, disciplinary, and financial standing with Texas A&M School of Law.

Selection Process and Limitations:

  • The  recipients will be selected by a committee of faculty members chosen by the Dean.
  • The Constitution of the National Order of Barristers limits the number of potential recipients to ten.  Therefore, not all applicants who qualify and have participated in advocacy can be selected. 
  • All applications must be received by 11:59 pm on March 9, 2020.  No late applications can be considered for any reason. 
  • Applications should be submitted by email to Jennifer Ellis at jellis@law.tamu.edu OR they can be dropped off outside Jennifer Ellis’ office in the Clinic building.

Selection Criteria:

  • The following factors are considered for selection, but are not necessarily equally weighted: 
  1. Participation in interscholastic advocacy competition teams (moot court, mock trial, and/or ADR)
    • Number of competitions
    • Success at competitions – ranking (if available), placement (if available), awards received
    • Participation in competitions in multiple disciplines (some combination of moot court, mock trial, and ADR)
    • Coach feedback on student’s preparation for competition, attendance and participation at practices, and performance at competition.
  1. Participation in intrascholastic advocacy competition teams (moot court, mock trial, and/or ADR)
    • Number of competitions
    • Success at competitions – ranking (if available), placement (if available), awards received
    • Participation in competitions in multiple disciples (some combination of moot court, mock trial, and/or ADR)
  1. Administration of an advocacy program 
    1. Board of Advocates Executive Board
    2. Board of Advocates Committee Member
    3. Board of Advocates General Member
    4. Served as a Mock Judge for intramural and/or undergraduate competition
    5. Served as a mock trial witness for intramural and/or interscholastic mock trial competition (not as a team member)
    6. Participation in demonstrations/trainings for law students, prospective law students, and/or the community

Disqualification:

  • All information contained in this application must be accurate.
    • This includes, but is not limited to, representations made regarding competition rankings and awards.  If rankings were not provided to the team or the coach at the time of the competition, students should write “unknown” on the application.
  • Failure to truthfully and correctly report information on this application will result in disqualification.