Mock Trial: Future Attorneys on the Case

“The results are in…”

Just say it already! I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes!

“We are proud of both teams…”

If we lose, we lose. Whatever happens. It’s okay.

“The runner up is…”

Please don’t say Lincoln, I changed my mind I don’t want to lose.

“Lincoln High School.”

Oh…

“Now please join me in congratulating Saint Francis High School, Santa Clara County Mock Trial’s Finalists.”

Ugh, objection your honor, excessive celebration in the courtroom… Were we that happy when we won Quarter Finals?… At least we made it this far.

Semi Finals. That is the furthest Lincoln has gone in 13 years. Looking back, it took a lot of work to become the team that we were at the end of the season.

The season started like it had for the past four years. The first few meetings consisted of us telling the confused new members what exactly we did in Mock Trial.

“Have you ever seen Law & Order? It’s like that, but not actually. Nevermind. The point is you get to yell out objections, dress up, and go to a real courthouse.”

As we stared at their clueless faces, we realized that there were not as many returning members as in the past. We were two of only three seniors in the room, and we were worried about preparing this new team.

As the season progressed, we faced many obstacles, from struggling to find motivation to attend practice to spending long hours working to improve content, and before we knew it, competition was right around the corner. We had only had two scrimmages, mock trials against other schools, prior to the competition, so we were unsure about what exactly to expect.

Admittedly, we had anticipated that competition would go much like it had in the past three years, with us winning two rounds and losing two rounds. We were consistent…consistently unqualified for the next round of competition.

Our first opponent was Basis Charter School, a school we had never faced before, particularly because it had not been a school until this year. We did not know what to expect, but when we entered the courtroom, we were pleasantly surprised.

One of our witnesses disrupted the serious mood of the trial with an off-handed innuendo. The stolen painting, which was the central object of the case, was “a lot smaller than [he’d] expected.” Even the scoring attorneys had to hide their laughter after that comment. That brief break in composure eased the tension between both schools, and we finished the trial with a new sense of comradery. As a first year team, Basis surprised us with their friendly demeanor and raw talent. We greeted one another at the beginning of each subsequent round, even after we had secured a victory against them in Round 1.

With Round 2 came another surprise. The day of the competition, we learned that we would be going against Mountain View, one of the two schools that we had scrimmaged against. Walking into the courtroom, we were greeted by familiar faces. Their first impression was somewhat different, as they quickly discovered that we had changed the role of the defendant, and to their frustration, the gender. This round of competition went much like the last, with us securing another victory.

By the time we entered Round 3 of competition, we found ourselves in an unfamiliar position. We had never won two rounds in a row, and there was a lot of pressure on the team to perform well. Unfortunately, our early success meant that we would be facing even tougher competitors. Our coaches made it clear that they expected us to work harder than ever if we wanted to move on.

To our dismay, Round 3 found us competing against Sobrato High School, a school that consistently makes it to Quarter Finals. When we ultimately went against them, they did not disappoint. In the end, Sobrato emerged as the victors of Round 3, and all of the pressure was now on the defense to secure the final win that would lead us to Quarter Finals.

Round 4, which was against Leland High School, was not as clear-cut as the previous rounds. The pressure was getting to us, and some of our more consistent teammates initially faltered when it came time to perform. By the end of the round, however, we were all feeling hopeful.

Our inklings were confirmed the next day with an admittedly overly-emotional announcement: “We’d like to congratulate Lincoln’s Mock Trial team for making it to the Quarter Finals, the furthest we have been in ten years. I’d also like to give a special shoutout to three senior members, Andrew, Dorrin, and Felicia. Even though they could’ve given up, they never quit, and that’s ‘Do Right!'”

This announcement was met with mixed reactions. On one hand, we were all excited to have made it so far in the competition. On the other hand, this victory meant that Mock Trial would be continuing on through our Ski Week Break, which would cause some conflicts. Many of us had already made plans for the break and were surprised to learn we had made it to the next round. Unfortunately, not everyone could reschedule their trips on such a short notice, so we were forced to make last minute changes and replacements right before the last week of competition.

Making it to Quarter Finals also meant practicing for long hours nearly every day during the break and striving to meet the expectations of our new audience. That is to say that Quarter Finals was one of the few times that we actually had an audience of more than five or six people.

When we arrived at the courthouse to compete against Los Gatos, the mood had changed completely. Out of the original 22 schools, only 8 had made it to Quarter Finals, and the schools we had grown close to were no longer there. There were no friendly hellos; there were only serious competitors. Many of the schools present competed in Quarter Finals regularly, but this was new to us. We had been anxiously awaiting this day for a week. When it came time to compete, however, we felt strangely calm.

Our competition was Los Gatos High School. We were the 3rd ranked school in the Quarter Finals round amongst the 8; Los Gatos was the 6th. Admittedly, this difference in rankings made us go into the competition feeling like we had the upper hand. We were wrong.

Los Gatos’s attorneys had questions that were nearly impossible to object to. Without any real objections to make, our scores as attorneys would mainly be based on our ability to ask our witnesses questions. Luckily, our defense team is apparently very good at asking questions (perhaps it was our ability to act interested in the answers that we were hearing for the hundredth time that month). Regardless, our attorneys’ questioning abilities and our witnesses’ lively performances were enough to earn us a place at Semi Finals. When we found out that we had won, we were shocked. Once the shock wore off, we were ecstatic.

Then came Semi Finals. We were to compete against Saint Francis High School, a school we were familiar with as they had defeated us in the past. In the days leading up to Semi Finals, everyone was focused on being as ready as possible. On the day of competition, we were met with an uncomfortable silence, out of the original 22 teams, only 4 schools made it to the second to last round. Inside the courtroom, the seats were filled, and the large audience made up of our teachers, family and friends did not necessarily help with our nerves.

Throughout the trial, things went as expected, and we felt good about our performance. Once the trial ended, we had to wait to hear the results. After what seemed like an eternity (but could more accurately be described as 20 minutes), the results were read. “The runner up is Lincoln High School.” Though we all had smiles on our faces, our side was by far more silent than the victorious Saint Francis.

Even though we were disappointed to find that we had lost, we were proud of how much we had grown and how well we had performed. This was the closest we had been to finals in 13 years, and it was the closest we had been as a team. Being able to end our senior year of Mock Trial in 3rd place out of 22 schools was an incredible feeling, but we would not have made it so far without the hard work and support of our coaches and teammates.