Victory Briefs was founded by Victor Jih when he was a student at Stanford University in the early 1990s. During the mid-1990s, Victor put the company on hold while he received his law degree at Harvard Law School. After establishing himself at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Victor re-started Victory Briefs – producing books and starting a national-level summer debate institute and winter tournament.
Since then, Victory Briefs has become a community of students, professional educators and former debaters to build one of the most successful debate-related organizations in the country.
Leadership Team
Mike Bietz
B.A., University of Minnesota;
Director of Debate at Harvard-Westlake School (CA);
President, National Debate Coaches Association;
Advisory Board, National Tournament of Champions
Mike is a unique individual in the debate community as he brings a great deal of business consulting and entrepreneurial experience to his work at Victory Briefs and as Director of Debate at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. While working in business consulting, Mike helped produce business plans, private placement memorandi, sales processes and marketing plans. Mike was also a frequent speaker on technology in business and new media (including video games and advertising).
During his time as a business consultant, Mike also coached debate at Edina High School in Minnesota, where he founded that program’s Lincoln-Douglas squad. Mike is the only person in the history of Lincoln-Douglas debate to coach debaters to win both Nationals and the TOC in the same year. Since moving to Los Angeles, he has worked to revitalize the once-dominating Harvard-Westlake debate team. His students also made history by becoming the only debaters to close out the Glenbrooks. The following year, his debaters did it again (with a 37-1 total ballot count). No other school has ever closed out the Glenbrooks (and, accordingly, none have done it twice).
Beyond the Glenbrooks, Mike has coached close-outs at the Blake, Hopkins Royal Cup, the Blake School’s Edie Holiday Tournament, the Valley Mid-America Cup, the Iowa Caucus, and the Greenhill Fall Classic. His students have also won Apple Valley and competed in the final round at the Harvard National Invitational, and the Omaha Westside Warrior Invitational. Mike is a diamond coach in the National Forensic League and has coached back-to-back Minnesota LD state champions. He has won numerous coaching awards, including 2003 Minnesota Coach of the Year, and currently serves on the TOC Advisory Committee.
Victor Jih
B.A., Stanford University; J.D., Harvard Law School;
Partner, O’Melveny & Myers, LLP
Director of Debate at Brentwood School (CA)
A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Victor is a partner at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles and a member of The American Lawyer’s “Litigation Department of the Year.” As a member of the firm’s General Trial & Litigation Practice, Victor has great experience in a broad selection of complex litigation matters, at both the trial and appellate levels. Outside of law, he is the managing director of Victory Briefs. He is also the director of forensics at the Archer School for Girls and coaches at the Brentwood School. Prior to that, Victor was the director of forensics at Palo Alto High School. In these capacities he has coached students to win Berkeley’s California Invitational, the Stanford Invitational, and the Tournament of Champions. A diamond coach in the National Forensic League, Victor is the chair of the West Los Angeles NFL District. His analytical and persuasive skills did not first manifest themselves in law school. Indeed, as a debater, Victor placed among the top eight at Nationals and won Berkeley.
