Mock Trial Competition looms on the horizon for both the county and region teams at Barbers Hill High School, with the county team being only a few days away from their competition. As this is Barbers’ Hill first year participating in Mock Trial, the students participating couldn’t be more excited to show off both their debate skills and theatrical talents at the December and January meets. But because of the inceptive nature of the program, many students might not be aware of what Mock Trial is or what it’s about.
Mock Trial is a UIL academic competition that is intended as a simulation for a real court’s proceedings. In the event, students are given a unique and creative fictional case and must take up the role of either witness, attorney, or timekeeper to orchestrate a realistic depiction of a trial. The witnesses must analyze the character they’re meant to portray, get inside the headspace of that character, and answer questions accurately while on the witness stand, while the attorneys must either aid in the defense of their client or argue for the prosecution, depending on which team is participating during a certain session.
This match is decided upon by a coinflip at the beginning of a round, and it determines if the team’s defense or prosecution team will be fulfilling their role in the trial. Both teams are made up of three students each who need to extensively research their case, build their arguments, and set up both direct and cross-examination questions for the witnesses. Similarly, the teams from each opposing school will have three witnesses to aid them in their arguments. Part of the beauty of the Mock Trial Competition is the complete synergy between the attorney team and the witnesses to ensure that the right responses are given to guarantee a strong case, and a large part of preparation for the team is to work with their witnesses to achieve this goal.
The aforementioned A and B County team is waking up bright and early to compete in their bracket-style competition the morning of December 8, and they serve as a wonderful example of how the competition truly looks during the round for the Region team, which is competing January of next year. While the County Mock Trial meet consists of three rounds in one day, the Region Mock Trial meet is UIL-affiliated, which means it will compete at Region then, if it advances a certain number of times, could potentially compete at the State level.
In order to show the mindset of these hard-working students, Region team defense attorney and senior Graycen Clements shares her perspective and expectation of their upcoming competition. “This is a great opportunity for us to set the precedent for a great mock trial team at the high school. Being part of the inaugural team is an honor and also a responsibility to set the tone for future teams. I know I can rely on my defense team to do our jobs and all we can do is see what happens.” From this student’s insightful commentary on the outlook of the capable Mock Trial team for both County and Region, the importance to the competitors and their poised confidence can be observed.
As both teams put their all into preparing for their upcoming Mock Trial Competitions, it is easy to see the passion and heart behind these brilliant students. As some of them endeavor to pursue Law-related careers, the competition not only facilitates interest and experience in the field, but also opens up connections and resources that will allow them to reach their highest potential, as well as provides a fun and all-together intellectually rewarding experience. We wish the best of luck to the participating teams, and look forward to the inevitable future years of Mock Trial to come.
