On Thursday, September 24, the Stephen D. Heninger Moot Court Room felt the way a real courtroom feels right before a verdict. Quiet. A little tense. Every eye on the lectern. Eight law students had earned their way into the final round of HGD’s 10th Annual “In Summation” Closing Argument Competition, and each of them had one job: stand in front of a jury and make the case count.
When the scores came in, Daniel Washington of Cumberland School of Law had taken first place. Layton Spates of The University of Alabama School of Law finished second, and his classmate Nicholas Thoma took third.
The 2026 In Summation Winners
- 1st Place: Daniel Washington, Cumberland School of Law. $1,000 and an engraved plaque.
- 2nd Place: Layton Spates, The University of Alabama School of Law. $750 and an engraved plaque.
- 3rd Place: Nicholas Thoma, The University of Alabama School of Law. $500 and an engraved plaque.
Awards were presented by partner Erik Heninger and managing partner Lee Gresham during the reception that followed the final round.
Meet the 2026 Top Eight Finalists
Eight competitors advanced from a strong field of law students after two days of preliminary rounds, representing Cumberland School of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law, and Birmingham School of Law. Listed in alphabetical order by last name, this year’s top eight were:
- Jeff Calloway, Birmingham School of Law
- Matt Carter, Birmingham School of Law
- Ariel Dixon, Cumberland School of Law
- Justin McMullins, Birmingham School of Law
- Bailey Robinson, Birmingham School of Law
- Layton Spates, The University of Alabama School of Law
- Nicholas Thoma, The University of Alabama School of Law
- Daniel Washington, Cumberland School of Law
Every one of them earned a spot in the final round, and every one of them made the jury’s job harder than it had any right to be.
How the Finals Worked
Getting to the finals was no small thing. Competitors argued preliminary rounds on September 16 and 17 in front of full juries, and only the eight students above advanced. Then we changed things up a little. In the final round, every finalist switched sides. If you argued for the plaintiff in the prelims, you argued for the defense in the finals, and the other way around. Same case, new client, new theory, and a jury that had to be won over all over again.
Anyone who has tried a case knows why that matters. A good trial lawyer understands the other side’s best argument nearly as well as her own. Switching sides tests whether a student truly knows the case or simply rehearsed a speech. For the record, all three of this year’s winners argued for the defense in the preliminary rounds and for the plaintiff in the finals. That is range.
Lee Gresham, HGD’s managing partner, presided as judge for the finals. The jury was a full panel made up of HGD attorneys, members of our support team, and friends and family of the competitors. That last group matters more than you might think, and we will come back to it.
Ten Years of In Summation
HGD launched this competition in 2017 to give local law students something a classroom cannot fully provide: real practice in front of real people. What started as a challenge for aspiring trial lawyers has grown into one of the premier law student advocacy competitions in Alabama, drawing competitors from Cumberland School of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law, and Birmingham School of Law.
The format has stayed simple on purpose. Students receive a trial problem, get assigned a side, and deliver a closing argument. No objections and no evidentiary fights. Just organization, persuasion, and presence.
Every year, the event runs on the time and energy of our own people. Attorneys, paralegals, case managers, and support staff volunteer as jurors, timekeepers, and coordinators. It is one of the few days on the calendar when nearly the whole firm is in one room, cheering for someone else.
Why a Jury of Laypeople Makes the Difference
Law school teaches students to think like lawyers. It does not always teach them how to talk to people who are not lawyers. And that is exactly who sits in a jury box.
A real jury is a teacher, a retiree, a nurse on her day off, a small business owner who would rather be at work. They are not grading anyone’s citation format. They are asking themselves whether they trust you, whether your story makes sense, and whether you respect their time.
That is why the makeup of the In Summation jury matters. When a closing has to land with a paralegal who has seen hundreds of cases and with a competitor’s aunt who has never set foot in a courtroom, a student learns something no appellate bench can teach. They learn to read a room. To slow down when faces go blank. To trade a clever phrase for a clear one.
Court presence does not come from a textbook. It comes from standing up, feeling the nerves, and doing it anyway, in front of people who will tell you honestly whether you connected. The students who compete here get that experience early, and they carry it into every courtroom they walk into later.
For our firm, this is personal. We try cases in front of Alabama juries. We know that the best legal argument in the world means very little if the jury does not believe the person making it. Helping the next generation of advocates learn that lesson is one of the best investments we can make in our profession and in our community.
A Night Worth Celebrating
After the final round, competitors, families, jurors, and the HGD team gathered for a reception and awards ceremony. It was a lively crowd, the kind of room where people who had just been sitting in the jury box end up trading stories with the students they scored. The Happy Catering Company kept everyone well fed, which is its own kind of persuasion.
Congratulations to Our Top Eight
To Daniel, Layton, and Nicholas: congratulations. You earned it. And to Jeff, Matt, Ariel, Justin, and Bailey, well done. Making the finals means you out-argued a strong field, and switching sides on short notice is a real ask. We hope you leave with more than a plaque or a new line on your résumé. We hope you leave knowing you can stand in front of a room full of strangers and earn their trust.
To every competitor who took part this year, thank you for your preparation and your courage. And to the faculty and leadership at Cumberland School of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law, and Birmingham School of Law, thank you for encouraging your students to compete and for sharing them with us.
We will see you next year for year eleven.
