Joe Lester
Education:
- J.D., University of Kentucky, 1998
As a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of Kentucky Lester began his legal career in Kentucky where he practiced for a couple of years before moving into academia. At Faulkner University’s Jones School of Law Lester rose up the ranks and became a full professor by age 35. He started a nationally recognized advocacy program and won many trial, moot court, and ADR competitions. After twenty years at Faulkner, Lester moved to American University to run the advocacy program. Under his leadership American enjoyed unprecedented success winning more competitions and individual awards than ever before. American enjoyed its highest ever U.S. News ranking at #3 in the nation. Lester then moved to the University of Georgia and in one year there won both NTC and AAJ regional titles, a first for the university. Georgia also rose to its highest U.S. News Trial Advocacy ranking while Lester was there. The crowning achievement was winning Baylor’s Top Gun competition in back-to-back years – a feat no one had accomplished before.
Professor Lester also has been teaching evidence for over twenty years and serves as a member of the Alabama Evidence Advisory Committee. Lester is also the author for the Alabama Practice Series on Evidence. Lester’s publications involve criminal procedure issues, specifically post and pre-trial detention as well as gaming law.
Professor Lester is well known in advocacy circles as a host of competitions such as the Mockingbird Challenge, Capitol City Challenge, King of the Hill, and most recently, the Shark Beach Showdown. He also created and maintains www.trialteamcentral.org which is a one stop shop for all things related to law school trial advocacy competitions.
Areas of Interest
- Advocacy
- Evidence
- Criminal Procedure