Mock trial teams prep for Championships

For the first time in their history, two Hopkins mock trial teams will be competing in the upcoming Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS) at the University of Delaware in late March. If Hopkins places within the top six teams, they will proceed to the National Championship Tournament at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in April.

Mock trial at the collegiate level is sponsored and governed by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA). In the fall, AMTA releases a case packet with the facts of the case, the issues and witness statements.

Teams, consisting of attorneys and witnesses, work together to present arguments and testimonies. They must be prepared to argue both the prosecution and defense sides of the case.

While many other collegiate mock trial teams often have faculty members or professional attorneys and prosecutors serving as coaches, JHU Mock Trial is completely student-run.

This year, due to increased student interest, the club expanded its number of teams from three to four. Teams usually have between six and 10 students. The four teams include the A Team, containing the best and most experienced members, and three other teams, all of equal strength.

Senior Annette Favetta serves as the club’s director of internal affairs and co-captain of the A Team. She has participated in mock trial for eight years, beginning in high school. After graduation, Favetta will be attending Fordham Law School.

“I’ve known for a very long time that I’ve wanted to be an attorney,” she said. “It’s a weird dream to have as a kid, but that’s just what I wanted to do. I also was a very shy person. I was nervous speaking in front of people and mock trial seemed like one of the best ways to get out of that shell.”

Favetta explained that mock trial is like acting but with a legal perspective.

“There is a certain level of acting involved with being a trial attorney, and I’m not trying to say that in a bad way. There is a performance aspect to it — not stumbling over your words, having good posture, using your hands correctly.”

Similar to Favetta, senior Phoebe Roque joined mock trial because of her legal aspirations. She will be working for a law firm in New York after graduating, and she later hopes to attend law school.

“I think it’s interesting when you’re surrounded in a pre-med hub to be around pre-law people... Being pre-law is funny because you say it, but it doesn’t really have that much weight,” she said. “You can be any major you want. All you really need to do is take the LSAT and have professor recommendations. So there aren’t a lot of resources that you need. There are limited resources for a pre-law person, but I think Hopkins does have them, if you want them.”

Roque currently serves as the Tournament Director and helped facilitate and host JHU Mock Trial’s first invitational tournament over intersession. Several universities from the Mid-Atlantic region including Georgetown, George Washington and Howard University came to Hopkins for the invitational. She and other members organized the invitational without much outside help.

“I like that [we] are student run, because when you accomplish something, you know it was of your own volition,” she said.

Sophomore Ramya Prabhakar, a team captain, has similar goals to pursue a career in law and has been involved with mock trial for six years. She also drew a comparison between theater and law.

“To me, the courtroom is a stage,” she said. “When you perform, you’re selling your story to an audience, and then when you’re in the courtroom, you’re selling an actual argument to a jury.”

Prabhakar stated that she has gained leadership skills in addition to furthering her public speaking abilities. For her, mock trial has made her more aware of how she presents her views.

“I’ve learned how to present an opinion respectfully,” she said. “Yes, [you want to] get a point across, but [you also want to] be respectful and be cognizant of how people are perceiving you.”

Senior Phil Lin, who is also a team captain, joined mock trial during his freshman year on a whim after one of his friends insisted he try it out. Lin is not pre-law; Instead, he studies cognitive science and plans to attend medical school after college. However, through mock trial, Lin has gained an understanding and appreciation for the legal field.

“I know a lot more about law than I would have before,” he said. “I had a perception of what lawyers do, but seeing it in a mock perspective, I know more about what lawyering is.”

Although Lin is not planning on pursuing a career in law, he has been able to take away valuable skills from his experience with mock trial.

“I think I’ve improved my oral presentation skills, because mock trial and oral presentation skills are pretty key, especially when you go into the workforce,” he said.