What is Mock Trial?​

• A competition among future lawyers; the goal is to present your argument best so the jury sides with you​
• A chance to learn and apply a skill set that will be useful for the practice of law

Parties in a Mock Trial

• Plaintiff: the person bringing the action​
• Defendant: the person the action is brought against​
• Witnesses: have firsthand information on the facts of the case, or someone with expert knowledge of a subject​
• Counsel: attorneys; they represent either the plaintiff or defendant​
• Judge: oversees the case and makes sure the law is actually applied​
• Jury: a panel of your peers who ultimately decide the case; cross section of population

Questions to Answer Before the Trial

• Main Question: WHAT OUTCOME DOES YOUR CLIENT WANT?​
• What’s your theory/thesis/story/theme and how will you use evidence and witnesses to tell it?​
• What questions will you ask?​
• What questions can you expect the opposing counsel to ask the witnesses?​
• How can you prepare your witness to answer these questions in a way that fits your story?​
• How will you deal with opposition’s story/evidence and how they’ll make the jury feel?​
• How would you minimize concerns the jury would have with your case/story?

Overview of the Steps of a Mock Trial on “Gameday”

• Opening statements​
• Plaintiff witnesses: direct, cross, redirect, redirect cross​
• Defendant witnesses: direct, cross, redirect, redirect cross​
• Closing​
• Rebuttal?

Opening Statements​

• “First chance to tell your story”​
• Roadmap/thesis statement to give to jury: “Here’s the conclusion you need to reach, and after hearing from witnesses A, B, C, and D, you will reach it”​
• Might include what you expect the other side to say: “Don’t be fooled by X”

Witnesses​

• Plaintiff’s go first​
• Plaintiff will first direct, meaning that they ask open-ended questions; they want the witness to speak in a way that goes toward their story​
• Next the defense will cross-examine, meaning they will ask the witness leading questions (yes or no questions)​
• Redirect: plaintiff will then ask witness more open-ended questions, but can only discuss what was brought up in cross​
• Redirect cross: defendant will ask only leading questions only based on what was brought up in redirect​
• After this process has finished for each of the plaintiff’s witnesses, the same happens with the defendant’s witnesses, but with the defense asking the open-ended questions, and plaintiff asking leading questions

Objections to Use During Examination of Witnesses​

• Irrelevant evidence – evidence does not tend to prove or disprove one of the legal elements of the case​
• Leading questions when they should be open-ended, and vice-versa​
• Narrative questions/answers – Asking a witness to tell a whole story, instead of just getting specific facts
• Hearsay – using an out of court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted​
• Opinion – when a witness testifies about their opinion on a technical matter they are not an expert in​
• Lack of personal knowledge – asking witness to testify about something they don’t know much about
• Ambiguous question – unclear what you’re trying to ask the witness​
• Argumentative question – asking a question that does not seek new information, but rather seeks to have the witness agree with a conclusion you’re making​
• Already answered questions

Closing​

• A final chance to speak to the jury​
• Be sure to go over your theme/story and reiterate key points

Jury Deliberation​

• The jury will meet to deliberate and discuss everything presented; they will decide the winner​
• If you won, congratulations!​
• If you didn’t there’s always next time!​
• You’ll get better with every competition​
• Have fun!​
• In Pain, Call Shane!