UM Law School Moot Court Board prepares law students to be "Legal Eagles"
Excerpted from Veritas, October 2006
Charged with the gruesome homicide of his millionaire wife, the defendant in one of Miami’s most sensational murder trials sits nervously at a courtroom table as his lawyer, a University of Miami School of Law student, takes notes on a legal pad.
In front of them stands the lead prosecutor, another UM law school student, who begins to present the state’s case before a jury.
As the trial progresses, both the prosecution and defense display their legal prowess, questioning witnesses, introducing exhibits as evidence, and raising objections to exclude certain testimony.
 Order in the court: Moot Court Board president Kevin Probst, at podium, consults with vice presidents Dave Ruffner and Anick Forcier. The board, composed of 56 members, organizes many intraschool competitions each year. |
Such legal drama didn’t take place in a Miami courtroom but as a mock trial presented by the School of Law’s Moot Court Board, an honorary student organization that hones the oral and written advocacy skills of law students through a series of competitions.
“I like to think of it as being just as prestigious as most law reviews but far more exciting,” says Kevin Probst, a third-year law student who is the president of Moot Court Board for the 2006-07 academic year.
Exciting indeed. In the board’s Mock Trial Competition, an intraschool contest held every fall semester, second- and third-year law students conduct at least two jury trials, delivering opening statements, conducting direct- and cross-examinations, and delivering closing arguments. First-year students act as witnesses and testify from prepared scripts. Local attorneys and judges serve as the competition’s trial judges, evaluating students’ performances and determining winners. This year’s Mock Trial Competition, which begins with the preliminaries on October 21 and concludes with the finals on November 1, will be “something flashy and exciting—a murder trial,” Probst says.
But it is not the only competition the board conducts. In the board’s Negotiation Competition, teams sharpen their dispute-resolution skills.
