Old Rochester Regional High School’s mock trial club is only two years old, but in that time the club has grown into a committed and successful group of students. This year, ORR’s mock trial club won all three trials in the preliminary round.
“To sweep all three victories for our second year is pretty impressive,” said Michael Linane, co-advisor with Geoffrey White for mock trial club.
Mock trial is an unsung program throughout the nation. Here in Massachusetts, the program is organized by the Massachusetts Bar Association. Each year, the Bar Association creates a unique court case. The mock trial clubs throughout the state are given this case, complete with evidence and affidavits.
“We started meeting in September, but we didn’t get the case packet – the case material – until the end of October,” recalled Linane.
This gave the club roughly two months to prepare for their first trial. Meeting once a week, the club participants had to learn the case and decide which roles would best fit each student.
“For a witness, all they have to do is memorize their lines and respond to questions,” said Linane, “For the lawyers, they have to be able to give and to respond to objections by opposing councils. It requires a little more thinking on their feet.”
With nearly twenty students in the club, however, not every student could have a speaking roll. For each trial, the club is allowed just six lawyers and three witnesses.
“Some people are a part of the club just to help out, without any speaking roles at all. We’ve deemed them paralegals,” laughed Linane, “They’ve been a tremendous help as well.”
Towards the end of January, the preliminary trial rounds began. In these three rounds, mock trial clubs meet at a local courthouse. There, they act as either the plaintiff or defense. The trial is overseen by a volunteer lawyer serving as a mock judge. The judge decides which side won the case, and he or she also distributes points to each school’s club. Each student lawyer has the potential to earn ten points for their club.
“We have to go through the opening, the direct examinations of the three witnesses, the cross-examinations of their three witnesses, and then a closing argument,” said Linane. Student lawyers earn points for each of those components.
This year, the case created by the Massachusetts Bar Association is a civil case. In the imaginary case, a pilot died while performing a stunt when the plane’s wing became detached. The pilot’s son is suing the aircraft company, claiming they breached a warranty of marketability and the plane was not fit for use by stunt pilots. He holds evidence that the plane did not allow for a margin of error. The aircraft company, the defense, argues that the pilot was inexperienced and the accident was due to pilot error.
In their first trial at the Fall River Courthouse, ORR’s mock trial club acted as the defense. In their last two preliminary trials, the students acted on behalf of the plaintiff. In all three trials, ORR’s club earned the most points, making them victorious. This is a huge improvement from last year, when ORR’s mock trial club won only one of their trials.
Still, they are thankful to have been able to get the club started in the first place. Bus fares to and from the courthouse can be costly, and the mock trial team would not have been able to proceed without the generous sponsorship of Schaefer & Kunz, P.C. and Donald Fleming, two law firms in the area.
Now, with the preliminary rounds over, the mock trial club is waiting to hear if there will be a need for a tie-breaker. If not, ORR’s club will move onto regionals in March. The Massachusetts Bar Association organizes a bracket system each year, in which mock trial clubs in the sixteen regions compete to be the state champion. From there, the state champion can move on to the national level. This would be a great accomplishment for ORR’s mock trial club.
“[The students] have been very, very impressive,” said Linane proudly.
As they design their questions, direct their arguments, and respond to objections, the students are getting a very realistic courtroom experience. Some students involved in the club have expressed interest in a law career as a result of their mock trial undertakings.
Seeing this, Linane noted the benefits of the club. He said, “It’s a good opportunity for people to see if they would be interested in that. When you’re in high school, how do you know if you want to become a lawyer or not? … I think [mock trial] might help people make choices.”
By Renae Reints
