2022 Mock Trial Competition

Mock Trial Tournament Recap with Michael Gutman William Szilagyi Renate Lunn

The New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Trial Advocacy Program is a yearly program that teaches trials skills in a clinical environment allowing lawyers to learn from lectures and apply the skills in a supportive clinical environment. The program is composed of four modules, each teaching a different trial skill. The skills taught are jury selection, evidence and objections, cross examination and summation. Each module consists of a two-hour lecture via Zoom taught by a faculty member who is an accomplished trial lawyer with years of trial experience, and most importantly has strong teaching skills. The lecture is followed by another two hour Zoom during which attendees break into small groups to apply the skills learned. Teaching is done through the critique method of learning. Registration is limited so we can keep the breakout groups small and give each participant time on their feet to apply the skill in a supportive but instructional environment (where no client goes to jail!).

Last year, a new addition was added to the Trial Advocacy Program: a statewide mock trial tournament. This first of its kind program allowed attorneys to participate in a mock trial against other lawyers throughout the state. Regional competitions were held and the two finalists met at the second day of a two-day seminar in October where they got to pick a jury and try the case. All attendees and competitors were able to watch and listen to the jury deliberate and then ask the jurors questions afterwards for rare (and often surprising!) insights.

Here, we take a look back at this successful and unique inaugural program with two of the Mock Trial winners, Will Szilagyi and Michael Gutman, along with their finals coach, Renate Lunn. To participate next year, please check out our CLE calendar for more details on the upcoming program. It is sure to sell out and be another highlight of the training year for NYSACDL!

How did you get involved in NYSACDL’s Mock Trial Tournament?

Michael: I received an email from the Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) training supervisor about NYSACDL’s trial training program and it sounded like a great opportunity. Little did I know that over the next few months this program would give me the experience of a lifetime.

Will: I had just graduated from Fordham Law School and sat for the bar, and I was waiting around for another couple of weeks until my job started at New York County Defender Services (NYCDS) when I was asked to join the competition. The trial competition seemed like a perfect way to prepare myself for my new career as a trial lawyer.

Renate: Steve Epstein reached out to me asking for coaches. I don’t say “no” to Steve Epstein. Especially not after last time…

What kind of training did you come into the program with and how did the program supplement it?

Michael: I attended most of the trial training sections offered. Each session counted as a CLE and each was focused on a specific trial skill such as direct, opening, closing, etc… I appreciated learning about each aspect of a trial and having the opportunity to practice in small groups with participants with more experience than you have from around the state.

Will: I was trained during law school by Fordham’s Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Center, where I had the opportunity to compete in a few mock trial competitions.

What were your first impressions of each other? Michael and Will competed against each other in Round 1 at Fordham Law School in September.

Will: I was intimidated when I showed up to our first preliminary round. Like I said, I’d done mock trial competitions before, but they were always against other law students and not fully admitted, practicing attorneys. Michael had all of these diagrams and charts and materials he’d gotten from NYSACDL’s trial training on his iPad. I thought he looked very professional and cool as a cucumber. I was just grateful my partner, Anna Andel from Legal Aid Manhattan, looked as calm and prepared as Michael did.

Michael: Funny story about that iPad, actually… As I was leaving I said to myself, wouldn’t it be nice to have an iPad instead of papers? So I brought everything with me and proceeded to leave the iPad on top of my car 3 blocks away. A few moments before Will walks in, I realize my iPad is in the street about to get stolen and make a run for it. My stuff is miraculously still there and… now I get to run back. As the trial is about to start I can barely breathe. There’s no water in sight. I thought I’d pass out before we got to the end of the People’s presentation.

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