About PTAI
The Frank S. Polestino Trial Advocacy Institute (PTAI) is the Law School’s trial advocacy/mock trial program. Since our start in 2001, we've offered St. John's Law students a singular range of opportunities—from trial training programs to internal and external trial competitions—to build their courtroom advocacy skills and to learn to think, act, and speak like trial attorneys.
Named in honor of Professor Frank S. Polestino, who taught trial skills to hundreds of students at St. John's during his long tenure here, PTAI is committed to showcasing our students' extraordinary talents and interests in trial work.
Advisers
- Michael A. Simons
- Maria Rivero '91
Contact Us
PTAI graduates have gone on to rewarding careers as assistant district attorneys, public defenders, private criminal defense lawyers, and as litigators. To learn more about participating in and supporting PTAI, please contact Maria Rivero at [email protected].
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About the Competition
The only national civil rights trial competition in the country, the annual Peter James Johnson Competition offers law students from up to 16 law schools throughout the country an opportunity to try a civil rights case in an actual courtroom setting before prominent jurists and trial attorneys. The competition was renamed the Peter James Johnson '49 National Civil Rights Trial Competition in 2008 in honor of Peter James Johnson '49, a St. John’s Law graduate who dedicated his legal career to excellence in the practice of law.
If you have any questions about the Competition, please contact Maria Rivero at [email protected].
About Our Internal Competitions and Events
Each year, PTAI hosts these competitions and events for its student members and others at St. John's Law:
- Brian Peterson Memorial First-Year Trial Competition
- Charles M. Sparacio Criminal Internal Trial Competition
- Edward Hart Civil Internal Trial Competition
- Advocate in the Spotlight Forum
- McKenna Forum
To learn more about PTAI's internal competitions and events, please contact Maria Rivero at [email protected].
Volunteer With PTAI
PTAI's student advocates benefit from the support of alumni and others who share their time and talents in different capacities:
Coaches
An integral part of PTAI's success is our coaching roster of St. John's Law alumni and other practitioners in the field. They bring their skills and insights as experienced trial attorneys to teach PTAI students how to effectively try a case—from introducing evidence and formulating a case theory to cross-examining key witnesses.
Other Opportunities
In addition to coaches, we need volunteers to assist as evaluators and judges for PTAI's internal competitions.
If you're a St. John's Law graduate interested in volunteering, please contact Maria Rivero at [email protected].
Frank S. Polestino graduated from NYU Law in 1958 and was a St. John's Law professor from 1972 until his death in 2001. He served as a longtime advisor to the Law School's former Criminal Law Institute and Association of Trial Lawyers of America student chapter. He also moderated the annual Walter J. McKenna Forum, where distinguished panelists come together with students and faculty at the Law School for a discussion of current topics in criminal law.
Before joining the St. John's Law faculty, Professor Polestino served as Law Assistant in the Queens County Supreme Court and as Law Clerk for Associate Judge John F. Scileppi of the New York Court of Appeals. Prior to that, he was a partner at a New York City law Firm.
In addition to developing the Law School’s Prosecution Clinic, Professor Polestino frequently lectured on Criminal Law and Procedure for Justices of the New York Supreme Court and Judges of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, at Bar Associations, and at seminars sponsored by the Office of Court Administration. In 1994, he received the New York State Bar Association Criminal Justice Section award for Outstanding Contribution in the field of Criminal Law Education.
During his time at St. John's, Professor Polestino was an inspiration and mentor to his students, and was greatly respected by his faculty colleagues and by practitioners in the wider profession.
The Frank S. Polestino Trial Advocacy Institute is named in his honor.