FOR THE GOOD

For the Good Mock Trial in the Miam i Valley T he Miami Valley is home to a thriving Mock Trial community, filled with both attorneys and students who are willing to dedicate their free time to the practice of law. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mock Trial, high school students across Ohio are split into teams who will represent the plaintiff or the defendant, as well as the witnesses, in a mock trial. Their coaches, which are local attorneys familiar with trial practice, assist them in both the legal and mental aspects of their roles. The Ohio High School Mock Trial program creates a case surrounding a highly debated topic, and all students are required to fully flesh out their arguments for their assigned client. For example, the 2020 Ohio Mock Trial Case File requires students to examine restrictions on a student’s First Amendment right to free speech at a public school. The students will argue their positions over a maximum of three competitions: Districts, Regionals, and State. If a team wins all of their trials in Districts, they are permitted to compete in Regionals and if the team wins all of their trials in Regionals, they are permitted to compete at State. If at any point a team does not win their trial, their season ends. In addition to the Ohio High School Mock Trial Program, there are several local invitational competitions where students can test their skills and maybe even earn a trophy or two

I had the opportunity to discuss the value and importance of Mock Trial with a number of coaches in Dayton and the surrounding areas, as well as one exceptionally bright student in Centerville. While each person cited a different reason for getting involved in Mock Trial, every single person emphasized the positive impact that Mock Trial has had on the students’ confidence. Sigurd “Bob” Peterson Alter High School Bob, an ethics and compliance attorney at Wright Patterson, created the Mock Trial team at Alter High School in 2017. This was not his first experience coaching Mock Trial, however, as he had previously coached at his alumna mater, Centerville High School, from 1993-2008. During Bob’s high school years, he participated in the speech and debate team under Coach Ralph Bender. Bob states that Coach Bender and the speech and debate program helped both him and his friends prepare for life through practicing oral advocacy and logical arguments – two skills which are crucial to any career. He states that, while the debate skills would have been useful in any number of career choices, he knew within the first few months of his freshman year that he wanted to become a trial attorney.

When asked what he hopes his students will learn through their involvement with Mock Trial, Bob states, “to know how to formulate rational arguments and present them coherently.” He feels this is crucial to every student’s experience in order for them “to be responsible adults and effective citizens.” Bob’s goals for his team expand beyond each competition and into their future careers. He says that the purpose of Mock Trial is to give students the skills they need to succeed in any career, and that it’s not simply training for future lawyers. In particular, Bob reminisces about a student who impressed him with her ability to see the big picture:

“. . . I had been coaching for several years [and] I was starting to get a little burnt-out. I was leading a practice one evening and recognized the students were stumbling over a complicated legal theory. To get from where they were to where they needed to be to understand the point was probably going to take about six steps of instruction on my part. I began to explain the first step and one of the students saw immediately where I going and jumped straight to the sixth step. Her insight reinvigorated me. As a side note, she went on to attend MIT.”

Bob’s nearly twenty years of service to the Mock Trial students has impacted countless students’ lives. While Bob will be the first to tell you that he’s coached more doctors than lawyers, I have no doubt that there are attorneys within the Dayton Bar Association who would cite Coach Peterson as their introduction to a love for the legal community. Thom as P. Whelley II . Dayton Early College Academy

Tom, a litigation partner at Dinsmore & Shohl, is in his first year as coach for the Dayton Early College Academy Mock Trial team, which qualified for Regionals this year. He served as the team’s legal advisor for approximately 5-6 years prior; a role now held by Marty Beyer of Beyer Law. While Tom was not involved in Mock Trial or speech and debate as a high school student, he feels it is an invaluable way for students to learn to understand the law and how to speak before a group of lawyers and judges. Students are often developing their voice and their opinions in their high school years, and it’s good to have them learn to speak with confidence in front of people who would otherwise be intimidating. For Tom, he feels that the “most amazing part [of coaching Mock Trial] is to see how far the students’ progress as we learn the problem and test out various arguments and themes to see what works and what is most persuasive.” Tom expressed his appreciation for the Dayton Bar Association and Foundation for its support of high school continued on page 11

Alysia Goss and Zachary Heck Centerville High School

Alysia, a Montgomery County Public Defender, and Zach, a privacy and data security attorney at Taft Stettinius & Hollister, jointly coach Centerville’s Mock Trial team. Each graduated from Centerville High School and participated in Mock Trial during law school, and each emphasize the importance of the skills that Mock Trial teaches students. “Mock Trial gives students a window to the adult world,” Zach says. Alysia elaborates on this idea, stating that “[the] high school kids are expected to act professionally, think critically, and take responsibility for their work.” These skills are invaluable to a student’s growth, regardless of what career their future holds. For Alysia, she hopes that students will not only learn these crucial life skills, but that they’ll also gain an understanding of their individual rights under the law. She states that the Mock Trial competition cases often touch on topics such as the right to be free from unlawful searches and, with this year, the right of freedom of speech.

Alysia also focuses on the specific skills that the students learn regarding editing their work, graciously giving and receiving feedback from other students, and thinking on their feet. She says that the students have “consistently impressed” her with their ability to understand the case well enough to adapt their arguments in real time in the event of evidentiary issues. When asked whether there was a particular moment that stood out to her in her coaching career, she states:

“There was a time a student dropped out of mock trial after their team moved on from districts. The rules would not permit another student to join that particular team for regionals. One student decided that he would jump in and take over the former member’s roles in addition to his. The student had only a few weeks to prepare, but ended up competing at regionals as an attorney for both sides of the case. That team ended up winning at regionals and went on to the State competition.”

She feels that coaching her students also assists in her own practice. “Taking high school kids and teaching them basic fundamentals of evidence and trial procedure is the best way for me to learn as well.” Alysia also wants to thank the many legal professionals and judges who have volunteered their time to practice with the students, judge a scrimmage, and/or judge a competition.

Anjali Raju Student at Centerville High School Perhaps the person who can speak to the importance of Mock Trial in a high school student’s life is an actual student, such as Anjali, the Senior Associate Captain of Centerville High School’s Mock Trial team. Anjali is a senior at Centerville who joined the Mock Trial team her freshman year in order to get an idea of what it would be like to be a lawyer. While Anjali later fell in love with biology and the practice of pediatric radiology, she feels that no other extracurricular activity could better prepare her for a career in any field. Anjali began her freshman year as an introvert, being a bit too nervous to use her voice with confidence around older students or teachers. She smiles as she recounts her initial fears in joining the team and how those fears were quickly squashed by the warm welcome she received from the upper-level students. Older students embraced her into their team, and also their friend groups, and Anjali grew in confidence having their support and the support of her coaches, Alysia and Zach. Now that Anjali is a senior, she makes an effort to include the younger students in her circles as well. The friendships and connections that she has made through Mock Trial have been lasting, with many of the since-graduated students returning to visit her and the team from college and to help with scrimmages and practices. This year, Anjali earned a trophy and states that it’s not only exciting to win a trophy yourself, but that it’s great to be able to cheer on your friends in their successes, too. Anjali and her teammates have plenty to celebrate, as all four Centerville Mock Trial teams were successful at Districts and are moving onto compete in Regionals.

By Alexandra Laine DBA Editorial Board, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP