Mock Trial Teams complete successful year

Clark University Mock Trial team members competed at the regional tournament in Boston Feb. 7 to 8. Top left: Sylvie Lepeltier, Kristen Bokhan, Lindsay Gemmell, Sam Reznik. Bottom left: Nora Feely, Minh Mai, Hattie Krakow, Amanda McLoughlin. Not pictured: Matt Diamond.

Clark's Mock Trial teams performed outstandingly in intercollegiate tournaments this year, coming in third overall in a regional competition in February and winning an automatic bid to the national tournament in Memphis March 27-29.

Two Clark Mock Trial teams competed this year. Team #1 finished 7-1 in the Boston regional tournament held at the Suffolk County Courthouse and secured a spot at the nationals.

"This was the best regional tournament finish for Clark in many years," said the director of Clark's Law & Society program, Professor Mark C. Miller.

The team finished third overall behind two Harvard teams. (Both finished 8-0.) Other tournament competitors included Tufts University, the University of New Hampshire and Boston College. In individual trials, Clark team #1 beat Brown (2-0), Suffolk (2-0), UMass-Amherst (2-0) and tied with BU (1-1). The Clark team #1 earned Best Witness Awards from Amanda McLoughlin '09, Hattie Krakow '10 and Kristin Bokhan '10, and one Best Attorney Award from Sylvie Lepeltier '11. Other members on this team included Nora Feely '09, Minh Mai '11, Andy Peace '09, Lindsay Gemmell '10 and Sam Reznik '09.

Clark team #1 earned a trophy for Outstanding Trial Team at the tournament along with four other teams that ranked in the top five of the field of 20 teams.

"This is an exceptional group of students who worked collectively for the benefit of the team to earn this achievement. Their performance was remarkable considering the caliber of teams that participated in this highly competitive tournament," said Steven C. Kennedy '88, a practicing trial attorney who teaches trial advocacy and coaches the Mock Trial teams at Clark.

Clark's team #2, which consists of many younger students, participated at the regional tournament at Yale University held Feb. 14-15. Although they did not qualify for the national tournament, first-year student Matt Diamond of Rhode Island picked up Best Witness Award. He joined team #1 for the national competition in Memphis.

The national tournament, held at the Shelby County Courthouse in Memphis and hosted by Rhodes College posed stiff competition. The Clark team lost to the eventual winner of the tournament, Boston University, which finished 8-0. "We are all very proud of our students and their hard work," Miller said. I think they learned a lot from this experience,"  Kennedy added, "This was an extraordinary opportunity to compete against the very best teams in the country. Our Clark community can be proud of the way these students represented their school at the national tournament."

Team co-captain, Sam Reznik '09 commented, "I think I can speak for the team when I say that the whole weekend was truly an educational and inspiring experience. Having the privilege of representing Clark in a national tournament was a humbling moment we will forever remember."

On the day after the national tournament, Clark's team members spent the morning with Clark alumnus Judge D'Army Bailey '65, who is a state court judge sitting in Memphis and the author of "The Education of a Black Radical: A Southern Civil Rights Activist's Journey, 1959-1964."

After visiting his chambers and talking with the students, Judge Bailey took the team to observe a trial going on in a colleague's courtroom. "It was very interesting to see how the real attorneys handled themselves in the courtroom," says one student. 

"Judge Bailey presented us with an amazing opportunity to learn about life, politics, and history during the 1960s," said Nora Feely '08. "We were thrilled to spend time with him."

In Mock Trial, teams of students study a single legal case intensively over the course of an academic year, prepare both sides of the case, and act out that case with team members assuming the roles of attorneys and witnesses. Panels of real attorneys and judges decide which teams and individuals made the best presentations.

The Mock Trial Team at Clark is open to any student, not just those planning to attend law school. Clark has hosted the regional competition and its teams often qualify for national competition. The team is part of the University's academic concentration in Law & Society. Students take a course on trial advocacy in fall and then participate on the Mock Trial team in the spring semester.

Clark's Mock Trial teams are supported by the student Prelaw Society, the office of Career Services, the Dean of the College Office, the Harrington Public Affairs Fund, the Epstein Pre-Law Fund, and the Government Department.