USC’s Mock Trial Program began its eighth year as a fully student-run organization this semester, recently finishing fourth Florida State University’s Fifth Annual Capital City Invitational Tournament and taking home two trophies in October.
But what exactly is the mock trial program?
Mock Trial Executive Board President and third-year BARSC student Nicole Wittstein has been involved with mock trial at USC since her freshman year.
"There’s mock trial at four different levels: You have your middle school mock trial, which doesn’t exist in every state; high school mock trial, which does exist in every state, … then you have college trial and law school mock trial,” Wittstein said.
Each year the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) creates a civil or criminal case for trial teams to prepare for. The team’s members fill the roles of attorneys, prosecutors and witnesses. Judges at competitions then rate the team's performance in the mock trial as a whole
“There’s a lot of skill work involved in mock trial. It’s public speaking, acting, law," Wittestein said. "We’ll bring in attorneys to help more with the legal technicalities."
During the fall, the teams compete in invitational tournaments (such as FSU’s Capital City Invitational) in preparation for the spring semester. Then, AMTA-associated universities host regional tournaments that eventually determine who winds up in the national competition. According to Wittstein, USC is planning to host one of the AMTA regionals next semester, where about 24 teams will compete to move on to the Opening Round Championships (ORCS) preceding the national tournament.
Wittstein said coaches help new team members develop their knowledge of the law and speaking skills. Dr. Melody Lehn, an assistant professor of speech communication, serves as “speech and skills coach” for the three USC teams.
“USC Mock Trial is very much a student-run organization, and I am continually impressed with how they have designed their practice structure before bringing me on the coaching staff,” Lehn said.
Lehn also said the teams practice two to three times a week — and sometimes more — when upcoming tournaments get closer.
Mock Trial Executive Board Treasurer and second-year political science student Nick Santamaria said he found out about the mock trial last year at the student organization fair, and tried out for it after he decided that he intended to go to law school.
“A lot of pre-law students find themselves in mock trial,” Santamaria said.
Both Wittstein and Santamaria emphasized that while the practices can be time-consuming, the experiences and opportunity the program can provide are more than worth it.
“It’s such a community and all of us know each other so well because we spend so much time together, and then we go on the weekend tournament trips together that it’s just … so much fun, especially when we're able to put in all this work and succeed like we did at FSU.”
Assistant News Editor Emily Barber contributed to reporting.