WHAT IS MOCK TRIAL?

The Michigan Tech Mock Trial Team was Formed along with the Law Club in 2006 as way for students who are interested in law, advocacy and debate to hone their skills and deepen their knowledge. We have joined the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) so as to participate in regional competitions with other teams in the area. During the first semester teams work on preparing the defense and prosecution/plaintiff sides of a case developed by AMTA. The cases are always challenging and rotate from criminal to civil each year. Past cases have included charges of murder, police brutality, wrongful death and negligence. This year (2007-08) we have a criminal kidnapping case. The cases mirror real world cases as they include interesting twists in the plot, slight or serious inconsistencies in the details recalled by various witnesses, and outrageous witnesses with their own agendas in place. This makes it interesting to be a witness, as the students get to develop these characters, and it makes it both interesting and challenging for the student attorneys to attempt to expose (or conceal) these witness’s for what they are really trying to do.

The team will work through the first semester and the beginning of second semester, with individual team practices and scrimmages. The team will also compete in the AMTA Regional Tournament held in the Midwest one weekend in January or February. The team will participate four times during a tournament – twice as the defense and twice as the prosecution – in front of judges scoring the performance. Teams are only graded on their talent and performance; the actual merits and verdict of guilty or not guilty do not affect the score. The team with the highest points at the end of a trial wins the ballot (there are two ballots in every trial). Depending on a team's success at Regionals, they may qualify for the National Competitions held in St. Paul, MN and Des Moines, IA

Mock Trial is a program designed to introduce students to law, but also to help them in their public speaking skills, their acting, and strategy. Mock Trial is mostly student-run and directed however Michigan Tech has an attorney coach- coordinator for the program. The team captains will organize the roles and practices as well as scrimmages whenever possible. Our program also brings in local attorneys to coach and help the team prepare for technical issues involved in trial, difficult case law, strategy and procedure.