Mock Trial Competes at Eastern District Courthouse
Mock trial practices in Midwood’s law room. Photo: Avielle Krendel-Smyslov
By AMALIA LEBOWITSCH
The Mock Trial team made it to the second citywide competition this year, finishing one spot shy of qualifying for the next stage. While this was a disappointment, the team still looks back on the season fondly.
Mock Trial is different from the average school team. While the team does compete with other schools, they do so as lawyers defending their side of a court case that is assigned by the NYS Bar Association.
The team is headed by student captains who “hire” lawyers (other members of the club) to work and prep the case as if they are a real law firm going to court.
This year's case was a civil one in which a construction worker fell off a ladder while fixing a house and sued the homeowner. The team officially met two times a week in school and over Zoom on Saturdays, but often ended up meeting four times a week to ensure they got in their prep. At the meetings, team members split into their respective sides, defending the homeowner or the construction worker and building a case together.
To practice, the team often engaged in “scrimmages” to test the opposing side and note some of the best arguments for rebuttals. Often these sessions get heated, but as junior Caroline Smith said, they “make the cases stronger.”
For the competitions, the team headed over to the Eastern District Court House in Brooklyn, where half the team competed at a time on the side of the civil case they were assigned. The other half of the team sat in the jury box and took notes.
The team is advised by Ms. Barbara Gluck, a real lawyer who met with the team weekly to review the case. Ms. Gluck even allowed them to practice in her office in Manhattan, which was “really important and helpful for the team,” said Avielle Krendel-Smyslov, the junior captain.
A big challenge this year was switching back to in-person competitions after being online last year. The year before that was halted due to Covid-19 precautions.
“The transformation from online to in-person has been difficult,” said senior captain Skye Whalen. “This is mainly because being in-person comes with a lot more responsibilities, whether it’s having to memorize certain statements because you no longer have a screen in front of you, or just rushing during school to get dressed in formal clothing for competitions.”
Smith said, “The competitions are a little more stressful in-person, but they’re a lot more fun than they are online, and it’s a cooler experience. We’re also a lot more productive when we practice in-person and can do real run-throughs.”
The team competed against other schools at Brooklyn’s Eastern District Court House.
The team’s round against Brooklyn Tech was one of their most exciting moments, as the school has been a longtime rival of Midwood.
Krendel-Smyslov said, “When we found out we were competing against them for the first round, we were really freaked out. We all went a little crazy with practice, trying to be the best we could be.”
While they lost to Brooklyn Tech by one point, they came back stronger in the next round against Cobble Hill High School and won by five.
“The best moment of this year's season was our second competition,” said Whalen. “We had practiced so hard and everyone did such a fantastic job. Just seeing the hours upon hours of work we had been pouring into practice actually translate into our performance was incredibly fulfilling.”
First year member junior Haya Hussein said, “I think the best moment of this year’s season for me was actually getting up there and putting all the long hours of editing and practicing to use. I remember feeling totally fine up until the second we stepped into that courthouse, and then I was a nervous wreck. But when I got up to the podium and started speaking, everything went away and it was just me and my witness there.” (Noncompeteing students act as witnesses.)
Krendel-Smyslov said, “It was super satisfying to see our witness leave ‘mic drop’ answers on cross-examination and have lawyers give amazing responses to objection battles.”
“This year's season has been really great,” Whalen said. “Despite not making it as far into the tournament as we usually do, I feel like we worked just as hard as years past and learned even more.”