Mock Trial Final Bench

Last month I participated in the Mock Trial Society's Intramural Competition. Over the summer one of my friends and I decided to try out for the team, and when everyone got settled back for the new semester, the competition took off pretty quickly. We were all given a fact pattern and assigned to be prosecution or defense. Within one week, we had to build an entire case--witnesses, opening and closing arguments, getting ready for objections. It was pretty intense.

We spent every free moment outside of class and homework preparing our case. We spent hours going over each other's direct and cross examinations, opening statement and closing argument, and working on our expected objections. (I had just started taking Evidence, but luckily my teammate had taken it over the summer. Working on this made my evidence classes more interesting, though.) We prepared our arguments for motions, and we rehearsed. ALOT.

The night of our trial, we walked into the Trial Practice Room here in the law school (it's basically a small courtroom, complete with a jury box and everything!) not really knowing what to expect. I think I can speak for my teammate as well when I say we were both feeling quite nervous. Once we started, however, the nerves were forgotten and we were having a great time.

A hard part about law school is that sometimes I feel like I'm watching people being lawyers. In the classroom, I don't really feel like a lawyer (it's another story with externships and internships, but go with me.) But, once the competition trial started, I finally felt like a lawyer. I could see myself--hopefully in the near future--doing this for a living. I came to law school thinking I'd be anything BUT a trial attorney. After giving it a go, I am surprised to say that I now see a new light at the end of this tunnel. (OK, so, I don't see a light. I see a career goal that involves going to court and working on trials. Same thing.) I'm excited because I feel like I have a goal now, and it's something I can see myself dedicating my life too. Best of all, it's just fun.

Denise Graham '11