The Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board Mock Trial Competition
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(From Left to Right): Mock Trial Vice President
Sasha Pernick, Winner PJ Kubicz, Winner Maria Morales, Mr. Carlos J. Martinez, Judge Ellen Leesfield, Judge Lester Langer, Finalist Kyle
Berglin, and Finalist Ashton Freeman. |
The Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board Mock Trial Competition was held October 24th through October 30th. This intra-school competition, is held annually and is comprised of 2L and 3L students, organized into teams of two, who then compete by switching between lawyers for the plaintiff and lawyers for the defense.
The Mock Trial Competition’s structure sets it apart from most traditional Moot Court competitions. In a given round of the competition, both teams’ members act as attorneys to parties involved in a civil dispute. Both teams in a round have access to a set of shared, general facts, which include depositions and exhibits. The goal for each team is to use all of the given materials available in order to prove their case.
After the trial is finished, the judges score each team based on their openings, direct examinations, cross examinations, closings, objections, and their overall theory of the case. Then after the score sheets are submitted the judges give the teams feedback on their performance.
Each team was required to participate in two preliminary rounds on Saturday, October 24th and October 25th. During these rounds, the teams switched between acting as lawyers for the plaintiff and lawyers for the defense. Based on the preliminary round scores, the top eight teams advanced to the quarter-final round held on Tuesday, October 27th. Each of the eight teams competed head-to-head to determine which teams would advance to the semi final round on Wednesday, October 28th and ultimately the two winning teams moved on to the Final Round.
This year the final round took place on Friday, October 30th and paired 3L Ashton Freeman and 3L Kyle Berglin against 3L Maria Morales and 3L P.J. Kubicz. Nearly 50 students attended the final round to observe the competitors in the live mock trial. Three accomplished individuals graciously volunteered their time to serve as judges for the 2009 Final Round. The judging panel was comprised of the Honorable Judge Lester Langer, the Honorable Judge Ellen Leesfield, and the elected Public Defender Carlos J. Martinez. The combination of the established judging panel and the highly skilled competitors made for an exciting final round. After about a two hour long trial, Maria Morales and P.J. Kubicz received the top score.
The Moot Court Board would like to congratulate the finalists and winners of the 2009 Mock Trial Competition!
posted 04-November-2009
