The University of Miami School of Law has named Senior Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Clark director of the Yvette Ostolaza Mock Trial Team. A longtime Litigation Skills adjunct professor, Clark brings extensive courtroom, teaching, and coaching experience to a program that continues to gain national recognition.
Clark serves as a senior litigation counsel with the U.S. Department of Justice in the Southern District of Florida, where he is assigned to the Health Care Fraud Task Force, handling complex federal prosecutions. His decorated career in public service—which includes receiving Executive Office for United States Attorneys Director’s Awards for Superior Performance—spans the appellate, major crimes, narcotics, economic crimes, and public corruption sections, as well as prior work as an assistant state attorney in Miami.
Beyond his federal casework, Clark has spent years developing young advocates as a mock trial coach for American Heritage School and Miami Law. He looks forward to taking his experience into his new role, “Having spent my career in the courtroom, I know firsthand that nothing prepares a lawyer better than real, high-stakes advocacy.”
Growing an institutional powerhouse
The trial team’s evolution over the past decade reflects a deliberate transformation.
Michael Braunstein, J.D. ’17, who received the Thomas Ewald Memorial Award—Litigation Skills’ highest honor—and Best Advocate honors as a student competitor, has served as the team’s primary coach for the past four years.
"When I was on the team about a decade ago, there were four of us," says Braunstein, a partner at Zacro Einhorn Salkowski, P.A. "We were largely teaching ourselves. The most dramatic shift in recent years is that the team is no longer improvising. It has an institutional memory now, structured instruction, and a roster of highly skilled coaches."
Working alongside Litigation Skills Director Jeannie Jontiff, Braunstein played a vital role in building the core pillars that scale the team today: an executive board structure, an intensive bootcamp, an intramural competition, and a rigorous tryout process.
"It is really two things working together…the development of the bootcamp and the related, subsequent intramural competition," Braunstein explains. "The bootcamp gives a common foundation…The intramural competition is what converts that foundation into something real…by the time someone competes nationally, they have been on their feet many times over. Together, those two pillars are what let the program grow from four students to roughly fifty without diluting anything."
High-impact results on the national stage
That structural foundation has translated into competitive success. During the 2025–2026 season, Miami Law showcased its trial prowess across the country:
- TYLA National Trial Competition (NTC): Competitors Emilia Waddington, Morgan Hirsch, and Jade Armstrong were named Region 6 Champions. Coached by Mason Kerns, J.D. ’11, and Prya Murad, the team earned a bid to the national finals.
- National Pretrial Competition (NPTC): Coached by Braunstein, competitors Morgan Hirsch, Tori Vasquez, Fernando Yzquierdo, and Marianne Adams advanced to the semifinals while securing the award for Best Non-Movant’s Memorandum of Law.
- Chester Bedell & Earle Zehmer Competitions: Coached by Jontiff, the team of Alexandra Fabregas, Nicolas Aixala, Kelsie Gonzalez, and Savanah Slaton-Morrone advanced to the quarterfinals at the Chester Bedell Competition and also competed successfully at the Earle Zehmer Memorial Mock Trial Competition.
Laura Bea, the 2026–2027 E-Board President who oversaw record tryout turnout and coordinated fall programming, notes the impact of these wins: "Our recent success in competition has played a big role. I believe our students see that the trial team is not only a great way to develop practical advocacy skills, but also a team that is succeeding on a national level."
Bea highlights that the practical loop of bootcamp and intramurals remains central. "Bootcamp gives them the foundation…But those skills only become meaningful through repetition and practice. That is where our intramural competition comes in. They learn how to prepare a case as a team, interact with witnesses, make objections on the spot... and perform under pressure."
Alumni support and advocacy training
A driving force behind the team's rise is its dedicated alumni network. Former competitors regularly return to mentor the next generation. Dedicated alumni coaches include Braunstein, Kerns, Andres Chinchilla, J.D. ’22, Jack Keller, J.D. ’22, Jeffrey Pierce, J.D. ’17, Daisy Delgado Bell, J.D. ’21, George Bell, J.D. ’21, and Gabriela Alfaro, J.D. ’17.
"My top priority this year is to build on the momentum the team has already created and continue to develop the next generation of advocates," says Bea. "Our culture is one focused on learning and growing from each other and being prepared to join the nation's top advocates in trial and litigation."
Ultimately, the program’s goals extend far beyond competition results.
"Miami is one of the busiest litigation markets in the country, and the skills our students build on this team are not academic exercises—they are the actual work," Braunstein says. "When a student leaves here having tried cases against real opposition in front of real judges, they are not learning to be a trial lawyer at their first firm. They already are one."
Clark echoes that sentiment, underscoring the true measure of the program’s success: “Our goal is to ensure every student who comes through this program steps into a courtroom with total confidence, superior skills, and the poise to lead from day one.”
Read more about the School of Law’s Litigation, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution area of study.
