- 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!
