(Photo courtesy of Nate Coady) “Mock Trial team debriefs after a Monday practice (pictured from left to right: Duncan Cowie, Emily Johnson, Lydia Robert, Emily Lindtveit, David Levenson, Rena-Jae McFall, Sheeba Nabiryo, Luke Van Horn, Sowndaryan Jayaprakashanand, Declan Reidy, Sasha Orr)”
Nate Coady
Connector Staff
The first weekend of February, The UMass Lowell Dr. Francis T. Talty ‘77 Pre-Law Society’s Mock Trial A Team went undefeated at the Chestnut Hill Regional Tournament at Boston College with a score of 8-0, winning a bid to the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS) in New Rochelle, which they will attend from March 14-16. “We are the first UMass Lowell Team to go undefeated at regionals,” says Vice President Emily Johnson.
On Monday, February 10, In a conference room on the second floor of University Crossing, the team sits in front of tables arranged in a square around the room’s perimeter. They are watching and critiquing one of their witnesses as they answer questions pertaining to this year’s case. All the members of the team play the role of either attorney or witness and they work with case materials released by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) to build a strong and durable case. The team then attends tournaments where they compete against other schools that have prepared for the competition using the same case materials. This year, the members have grown enough to allow an A Team and a B Team.
The cooperation between the club’s experienced members and their new additions has helped the team grow to what they are now. B Team Captain and Treasurer Emily Lindtveit says, “This year’s group of newcomers has been truly something to behold because they have this care towards the team and towards each other and there’s this camaraderie that everybody has developed.” President David Levenson says, “Our A Team and our B Team are so deep, as in there’s people that have experience and there’s new people, and they just work so well together.”
Levenson and Sophomore Criminal Justice major Luke Van Horn won the Outstanding Attorney Award at the Chestnut Hill Regional Tournament. Van Horn, new to the club, spoke about his experience learning the rules of Mock Trial this past semester. “Mock Trial is a game, obviously, and it’s a game of an infinite amount of rules,” he says, “I learn of a new rule every day. And in order to play the game at the highest level, you have to come to know all the rules… When I went to UNH [for a tournament] for the first time– first trial– I got up there; I was definitely nervous. There were things that I didn’t know. And then just coming back from regionals now, there’s a lot more that I’ve learned and there’s only more and more space for me to grow.”
The bond the team has is tangible. As they talk they bounce off of each other, almost finishing each other’s sentences. Each member shows perseverance through uncertainty and willingness to improve the team as a whole, regardless of whether they are on the A or B team. The club is comprised of students who love the process of trial advocacy, including the new members who have eagerly taken on responsibilities. Senior Business Management and Finance Major Chris Osgood says, “I came in and I was like, yes, this is what I want. I made a ten thousand word document going over everything in the entire case… I like to look and I like to analyze and I like to put it all out there and make the best case that we can so that we can consistently do well performing and do better.”
This year, AMTA has put together a civil case. Osgood plays a witness for the plaintiff on UMass Lowell’s B Team. He went into detail about the background of the character he plays and stressed the importance of his testimony in the structure of the plaintiff’s case.
Relying on the importance of witnesses on their team is something the club has improved upon this year to give them an extra edge going into regionals. Vice President Emily Johnson says, “I think letting the witnesses create their own characters gave them more of a sense of enthusiasm when they were playing them because they liked what they were doing, and so they wanted to get better at it.” Looking forward to ORCS, the next tournament for UMass Lowell’s Mock Trial team, Johnson stresses the importance witnesses hold in winning the trial. “When it comes to ORCS,” she says, “there are no bad attorneys. Every attorney is good, so it comes down to the witnesses, because the best witnesses are the ones that are going to stand out, and I think that we have outstanding witnesses.”
It is readily apparent that the team holds value in every one of its members, which is something its President, David Levenson, reflects on as he speaks about the dedication of his members. “We did two A vs. B full-day scrimmages on Sundays, and those have been great. People have been coming with their A game… people get dressed up for a Sunday at UCrossing… two three-hour trials… 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They treat it as a real thing. It’s dedication… it seems like everybody wants to win.” He goes on to say that the team is uniquely capable of winning at ORCS. “This year we have had…this common saying… foot on the gas, as in we’re just going to get better from here. And that’s been the mindset and my team has embodied that this entire year.”
Aside from the drive that the team puts into practice, they hold Mock Trial in high regard because of the lessons they have learned. “At the end of the day,” says Sophomore Matt Follett, who has done Mock Trial since being at UMass Lowell and all four years in high school, “It gets you comfortable with being uncomfortable… it gets you ready to speak… Mock Trial has really helped me in life.” Concurring in that opinion was Senior Brendan Tighe who says, “I think the argument is the big reason of why you should join Mock Trial because you’re not going to learn that really anywhere else. If you want to go far in the legal world, especially if you want to be a trial lawyer, this is kind of the place to start building that foundation.”
Whether students are interested in law or not at all in the slightest, there may be a place for them in UMass Lowell’s stellar crew of like-minded individuals. Levenson says, “People should join Mock Trial for a variety of reasons. If you’re interested in being a lawyer, sure, you should join Mock Trial, because we do trials,” he says matter-of-factly, “but Mock Trial isn’t just for people who want to be lawyers. Mock trial is for anybody that wants to know themselves better, that wants to work as a team better… we learn how to work with different types of people. I mean, there’s people in that room from every different college in this school. There’s people in that room that are shy, there’s people in that room that are extroverts and we learn to work together and come to that common goal… Mock Trial is the ultimate way to get out of your comfort zone.”
The team now looks onward to a formidable challenge at ORCS, but Levenson and the team are greeting that challenge with pride and distinction, following the year’s motto: “foot on the gas.”
For those interested in Mock Trial; the teams meet twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at University Crossing. Follow their Instagram @umlmocktrial or email David_Levenson@student.uml.edu.
