Mock Trial

Continued from previous page

How did your first round against each other go?

Michael: I enjoyed it! Will and his partner Anna were amazing. Getting to put all this theory into action you can see how the case unfolds and you realize so many of the things you never considered. I wish we could try our real-life cases multiple times to perfect them.

Will: It was a real electric round - I was just trying to poke holes in Michael’s arguments as fast as he was making them.

How did the two of you end up in the finals?

Michael: I guess to understand that we should first discuss the semi-finals…

Will: Actually, we were still not on the same team in the semi-finals!

Can you say more about that?

Michael: The semi-finals brought the teams up to Pace Law where we were set to have the elimination round and pick the top two teams to head to Buffalo. I ended up winning my semifinal round, but I had a problem - my partner couldn’t make it to Buffalo for the final round.

Will: I, on the other hand, did not win my final round. So here I am, walking out the door with a slice of well-earned consolation pizza when Mike, who I had bonded with after our prelim rounds, asked me if I could fill in as his partner for the finals. I immediately said yes.

So then finals were next up?

Michael: Yes, but first, Steve promised us a coach at the end of the semi-finals.

Will: Yeah, and we were starting to realize that we were going to need one. We were heading up to present this case in a real Federal Court, in front of a real Federal Judge with a real (fake) Jury.

So did you get one?

Michael: Yes! A huge thank you to Renate from NYCDS who led us to victory!

Will: We really couldn’t have pulled it all together in time for the finals without Renate’s expert coaching. Renate, can you tell us about how you met the team?

Renate: Well, I met Will when he was an intern at my office in Fall 2021. Will is now conveniently in the new class of trial attorneys that I’m training. I still haven’t met Michael in person! As soon as I was assigned as their coach I wanted to get to work, because I was determined to ensure Will started his career at NYCDS with a win under his belt.

Thankfully, we got to listen to a group of renowned trial skills presenters at the Superstar Trial Lawyer Seminar. Michael and I were still making revisions to our case the day before during our lunch break at the conference, working in the things we’d learned from the presenters. So did things go according to plan once the trial went underway?

Michael: Things fell apart almost immediately!

Will: We had a motion in limine to exclude hearsay that we thought was sure to be granted, but the judge instead reserved judgment, so we were already sweating bullets.

Michael: We also lost our Sandoval application for a 3-decade old misdemeanor conviction.

I think we have a clip from your practice sessions. Let’s play that. Cue Rocky theme. Mike is on vacation on a small hotel balcony, working on his cross while his infant daughter naps in the room, Renate is in her office diagramming jury selection strategies, beating her pointer against a flip chart. Will mops his brow and he furiously scribbles in his notebook. All this happens on Zoom.

Renate: But seriously folks, Will and Michael were good sports about getting on their feet, mooting each step of the trial, and incorporating feedback. We were so committed, that our last moot was with Will in NYC, Mike still on his hotel balcony, and me calling in from the woods in Kentucky, where I was coaching at another trial skills program. I had full confidence in them by the time they went off to Buffalo.

So you were ready for trial by the time you got to Buffalo?

Will: After all the work that we’d done with Renate you’d think we’d feel ready, but you’re never ready till it’s over.

Renate: I have concerns about the judge’s bias.

Will: But once our coffee kicked in and Michael started us off strong with his opening, things started going smoothly.

One of the appeals of this competition in particular is getting to watch the jury deliberate in real time over live feed video. What were some of the highlights of that process for you?

Michael: Probably the most frustrating experience ever. One second you’re cheering they remembered and followed your ideas, the next you are pulling you hair out that they thought a minor mistake actually had meaning. For example, when our client testified there was a misunderstanding between my question and her answer. We just moved on and didn’t think much of it. Apparently, this led the jury to believe that there was something we were hiding. Nope, just nerves! The entire time they deliberated it felt like a roller coaster.

Will: Well, I got to experience confirmation of every trial lawyer’s worst nightmare in real time. I sat down from my closing and realized, dang, I forgot to make this argument Mike and Renate told me I should mention. I say to myself, “oh well, you still made your main points, it’ll be fine.” I managed to keep saying that to myself right up until the jury started to talk about the exact point I had forgotten to address, in exactly the way that I could have fixed if I had made my point. Watching them talk about that felt like an eternity.

Finally, was your favorite/worst part of the trial?

Michael: My favorite part was impeaching the testifying officer. Worst part, no juror remembered the impeachment during deliberations because I went through it too fast.

Will: I’m not sure if this answer is cheating, but my favorite part of the trial was just getting to do a full criminal trial in a courtroom as beautiful as the one we had. The “worst part” was listening to the jury and agonizing over how I could have made my arguments clearer, but watching jury deliberations was also an invaluable experience.

Renate: The worst part was missing the actual trial, as I couldn’t make it to Buffalo. The best part of the experience was helping two people starting out in this thrilling and rewarding profession build up the skills they need to effectively represent the people we serve.