The Concordian

Media Credit: Ashley Green Members of Concord's Phi Alpha Delta chapter at the national mock trial competition. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Ashely Green [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Ashley Green [Click to enlarge]

Concord’s chapter of Phi Alpha Delta went to the national pre-law conference and mock trial competition in Alexandria, Virginia, November 11-15.

In 2004, Concord took first place in the nation. This year one of Concord’s teams beat Indiana University for third place. The winning team included Cari Harper and Kelsey Queen for the defense, and Jacob Simmons and Robert Elsaid for the plaintiff.

“It was amazing! There’s no greater feeling than knowing you were chosen to represent your school in a national competition, and taking third place was a win for Concord and everyone in the competition,” mock trial winning team member Cari Harper said.

In the mock trial competition, 16 people participated from Concord in three teams of four. Captains for these teams were Robert Elsaid, Grace Hurney, and Svitlana Olenich (Concord PAD president).

PAD advisor Marshall Campbell also attended. Campbell teaches a mock trial class in the fall about the trial process and to prepare teams for the competition, although enrollment in the class does not require participation in the competition.

The competition was broken into three rounds, with two on Thursday and one on Friday, with each team having a chance to prosecute and defend in a simulation of trial proceedings.

Then the four teams with the most points competed in the final round. The top two teams competed for first, and the teams ranked third and fourth fought for third overall.

The teams were judged on a scale of one to 10 in the following areas: Plaintiff Opening, Defense Opening, Plaintiff Direct, Plaintiff Cross, Defense Direct, Defense Cross, Plaintiff Closing Argument, and Defense Closing Argument.

The teams acted both as witnesses and attorneys; two on each team were randomly assigned to defense and the remaining two were the plaintiffs.

“I was really impressed by Concord’s ‘attorneys.’ There’s such a high degree of versatility involved in this whole mock trial process; you have to be able to switch mindsets in a second going from being a hard-line attorney to playing a distraught witness. Concord had a very high reputation at Nationals, and we certainly gave them a great set of trials this past week,” PAD member and competition attendee Ashley Green said.

“It was frightening but such an adrenaline rush to be in mock trial at the national level. Your mind is constantly racing, getting questions ready and watching for things that you can object to, like the opposing attorney ‘leading’ their witness into saying the answer they want to hear. Like asking ‘did you feel scared and alone when you saw the footprint on the stairs?’ –that’s something you had to watch for,” mock trial team captain Grace Hurney said.

In addition to the mock trial competition, the national conference also included seminars about law schools and an expo with school representatives to answer questions.

Also, some law schools use the conference as an opportunity to recruit potential students.

The conference included various speakers and presentations: Adam Carroll - “Networking” and “Building Your Brand Name,” Andrew Brody - “Everyday Logic,” Jeff Thomas - “Do’s and Don’ts of Law School Admissions” and “Preparing a Personal Statement,” and Reyes Aguilar, Jr. - “Law School Finances - Making an Informed Decision.”

Phi Alpha Delta is a co-ed fraternity that is open to anyone interested in law.

It offers help with various aspects of the law school application process, including LSAT courses and fee waivers for law school applications. For more information about PAD, visit www.padcommunity.org.

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