Three members of the Temple National Trial Advocacy Team traveled to Las Vegas this fall for the Mass Torts Made Perfect conference, where they delivered opening statements, received feedback from practicing attorneys and attended workshops on trial skills.

For the past few years, the conference has offered advocacy training to students from a select number of law schools, and Temple Law has been included each time, according to Professor Jules Epstein, director of advocacy programs. This year’s invitees were Katie Chun LAW ‘27, Indya Gettings LAW ‘27 and Alana Petrovani LAW ‘28.

Below, each reflects on the experience in their own words.

Katie Chun LAW ‘27

The Mass Torts Made Perfect conference was a meaningful experience and I’m grateful to Temple Trial Team for sending me and two of my teammates! We met with accomplished lawyers from all over the country, got to share meals and speak with them individually, and went through opening statement workshops. I knew very little about the practice area of mass torts before the conference and it was exciting to hear so many different people’s journeys to this demanding work and about the important cases they’re working on. This was the first legal conference I’ve ever attended and I came out feeling more confident about my networking skills and ready to join a profession made up of people passionate about standing up to injustice.

Indya Gettings LAW ‘27

MTMP was an amazing experience. The opportunity to present an opening statement and gain meaningful feedback from talented attorneys, especially in a field in which I have great interest, was invaluable. I loved going to the workshops and learning about different ways to make my advocacy more effective and show up for my future clients. Specifically, the deposition workshop was really interesting because it showed me how to take a seemingly mundane practice of asking a witness questions and make it engaging to get the best possible answers out of a witness and build the strongest case possible. I feel more empowered than ever to go into practice and take the skills that I have learned at MTMP.

Alana Petrovani LAW ‘28

I got to meet several plaintiffs’ attorneys and hear about the different paths that led each of them to their current firms. This was ideal, as I am highly interested in civil litigation but not yet sure what specific type, and this conference definitely made me realize plaintiffs’ side litigation is something I would enjoy. It was also extremely affirming to see that there is no one path to success in the legal field. Many of the attorneys didn’t start off doing plaintiffs’ work and really emphasized the importance of trying anything that interests you, which was great to hear since I truly want to try everything!

I was also a little nervous to give my opening in front of partners from some of the country’s major plaintiffs’ firms, but their feedback was both helpful and incredibly affirming. Hearing from the jury, who were non-attorneys, was a fun twist as well. Overall, I had the best time and learned so much, and the networking events and food were a great bonus!