Being a lawyer takes time and dedication. It’s defiantly more than just an average person may think. Not too many people know what it takes. Judges, lawyers, plaintiff, defendant, victims, witnesses, time keepers and the list goes on and on. Believe it or not, it really does take this many people to run a court case. If you want to know what it feels like to be a lawyer, what could be a better way than joining Mock Trial?
Mock Trial can teach you just about anything there is to know about being in a real court. While in Mock Trial, you have the chance to experience being on the stand or any other position that you want. It’s the best of both worlds. Especially for those you who would like to have a career that involves anything in the court system. All of this preparing just gets them ready for some hard core competition.
“It’s like beating people up mentally on the stand.” Says junior Marleny Huerta-Apanco.
Something new to the team this year is the stunning amount of new team members. Compared to the years before, this is an exponential growth. It just may be for the good of the team to have this many people but like many people say, it’s just a tad bit early to tell.
At least with a group this big, they have the thought and opinion of every person that is eventually needed to get through a case.
“The more heads, the more thoughts,” says Mock Trial coach Neil Chalmers. “You never know what student will find the missing information.”
In order to get all of the information for the cases, you have to get inside the minds of each character in the case. The criminal mastermind, deceiving in their own ways. The witness precisely recalling what happened. Lawyer, thinking hard and under tons of pressure. You see, every character has to be thought of. If you forget just one character, that could be the lost information that you are looking for. It’s kind of like the game of CLUE, not every character is as it seems. Again, preparing is very essential.
“We read the case, read it again, discuss the case, and then we read it again.” Chalmers said with a demanding voice.
It may seem like a lot of work to be doing for a case, but in the end, it’s worth it for most people. At the beginning of the season some people set a goal. If not reached that doesn’t mean it failed, just to try harder next time. Everybody has their dreams for a case like juniors beating seniors, placing at tournaments, etc…
The Mock trial team does have many people in it, including 5 coaches and 3 volunteer coaches. They help with everything that is essential for the team.
“I couldn’t do it without these guys,” Chalmers said with a smile on his face.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The varsity team for placed second at the Owatonna Invitational recently. If you would like to see the mock trial team in action, the first tournament is on
Jan. 19, 2012.