Fordham Law ACTech Challenge
INAUGURAL YEAR • SPRING 2027 • NEW YORK CITY
Fordham Law ACTech Challenge
A technology crisis just broke. Leadership needs your advice.
The Fordham Law ACTech Challenge is a new team competition for graduate students in law, technology, policy, and business. Step into the roles of an institution’s senior advisers, work through a realistic crisis, and brief its decision-makers in person in New York City.
Teams
4 graduate students, at least 1 in law
Applications Due
December 28, 2026
5PM EST
Competition Weekend
April 24-25, 2027
Fordham Law, NYC
Cost to Enter
No fee
Presented by Fordham University School of Law and the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, creators of the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge.
The Challenge
Lawyering is more than litigating. A competition focused on client counseling.
When new technology goes wrong, there’s rarely a settled rule to look up. Someone has to sort through an incomplete record, weigh legal, technical, financial, and reputational risk, and tell leadership what to do first. That’s the job this competition simulates.
A realistic crisis
Your team gets the files a real organization would have: internal emails, board minutes, engineering reports, press coverage, and letters from regulators. No summary, no answer key. A new client and scenario every year.
A seat at the table
Each teammate takes a role, such as legal counsel, compliance, engineering, or communications. Each role gets
information the others don’t, so your team has to reconcile perspectives and agree on one recommendation.
Decision-makers who push back
Judges are practitioners playing the client’s leadership: a board member, a general counsel, an agency head. They question you hard, then step out of role and tell you what worked.
Why Compete
What you'll get out of it
01
Practice the real job
Read a messy record, decide what matters most, write for a reader with ten minutes, and defend your advice under pressure.
02
Work across disciplines
Compete alongside students in engineering, policy, business, and communications, the way technology problems are handled in practice.
03
Meet the field
Judges and expert advisers come from government, industry, academia, and civil society. The weekend includes a keynote, a careers panel, and a networking reception.
04
Feedback every round
Every briefing ends with direct feedback from the judges. Nobody is eliminated after Day 1. Every team presents on both days.
05
No tech background required
Everyone works from the same materials we provide, so the competition rewards judgment and teamwork, not prior expertise.
06
Be a part of the first year
Join the founding group of schools and compete to become the first ACTech champions.
Step 1 • Fall
Apply
Tell us about your team and answer a few short analytical questions. Selected teams are notified by January 11, 2027.
Step 2 • Spring • 8 Weeks
Work the case
The case file arrives. Working from your own campus, your team writes a short memo to the client's leadership, and you can put questions to in-scenario expert consultants.
Step 3 • Day 1 in New York
Brief the board
Present your advice in ten minutes, no slides, then take questions. That evening, the crisis develops, and each teammate gets a private briefing for their role.
Step 4 • Day 2
Revise & decide
Turn in updated advice by morning and brief the same panel again. Scores from every stage add up, and winners are announced at the close.
Who Can Compete
Graduate students from any university, in the U.S. or abroad
- Teams of four. At least one member must be a law student (JD or LL.M).
- Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged. Teammates can come from engineering, computer science, public policy, business, communications, or related programs.
- A coach helps. We encourage a faculty coach from your school. If you can't find one, we'll help connect you with a practitioner mentor.
Apply
The application asks for:
- Team members and their CVs
- A short statement on how your team came together
- Answers to a few analytical questions. They aren't about the competition scenario, and you may use any resources.
Important Dates
- Applications open: November 9, 2026
- Deadline: December 28, 2026
- Teams notified: January 11, 2027
Not ready yet? Ask us a question.
For Faculty, Coaches & Administrations
Why send a team
The Challenge takes students outside the classroom: advising a real-world institution, across disciplines, in front of practitioners.
Light lift for your school
All you need is a team and, ideally, a faculty coach and travel support.
A level playing field
All teams work from the same case file and a defined set of legal sources we provide.
Built by experts
Subject-matter experts design and peer- review each scenario, drawing on the Atlantic Council’s experience running the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge.
Free teaching materials
Materials from Fordham’s companion course on technology governance will be shared openly for any school to use.
Frequently Asked Questions
The full rules are in the Competition Handbook.
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No. You’ll work from materials we provide, and the competition tests judgment, analysis, and teamwork.
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Roughly eight weeks of team work in the spring, from your own campus, plus a two-day competition weekend in New York.
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There is no fee to participate, but you are responsible for your travel and accommodation costs.
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Yes, multiple teams from a single school can apply to participate in the competition.
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Yes for the application. Once the case file is released, teams use only the materials provided.
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The spring casework is done from your campus. The competition weekend is in person at Fordham Law in Manhattan.
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Yes. Fordham offers a course tied to the competition, and two teams from that course are entered. Subject-matter experts design and peer-review the scenarios, and practitioner judges score every team.
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Yes. While you are responsible for covering the cost, we can assist you with securing a hotel. Contact us and we’ll work with you.
