Members of the Bradley mock trial team took the stand – and the first place prize – at the Bradley Mock Trial Invitational last weekend.
Held downtown at the Peoria County Courthouse, the team’s 10 students delivered witness testimonies, rotated between plaintiff and defendant presentations in addition to watching and learning from peers at competing schools.
“We had a couple good attorneys, some good witnesses,” Jerelyn Maher, director of the Center for Legal Studies and retired judge, said. “Until you’ve stood up in a courtroom with all those people and other teams watching, when you stand up and can deliver the opening and testimonies and everything else with judges watching, that’s an accomplishment.”
In addition to taking home first, the Bradley mock trial team was also awarded six individual awards at the invitational.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” Maher said. “This is a tough thing to do, to stand up this early in the season and present a case … and they were in real courtrooms doing it.”
Each year, the mock trial team receives a case they prepare and present at different competitions – the case, distributed by the American Mock Trial Association, is the same for every mock trial team throughout the country. At competitions, schools go to trial against each other.
There were six schools at the Bradley Mock Trial Invitational, with some schools bringing more than one team.
“The judges [at each tournament] are usually attorneys and actual judges, and sometimes law students we ask to come judge the competition,” Maher said. “At the end of [a plaintiff] trial, they regroup and … do the other side of the case as a defendant … The Peoria County Courthouse was kind enough to let us use their actual courtrooms, and they were having real jury trials there, so we had to get out.”
Henry Moellring, co-captain of the mock trial team and senior political science and history double major, said he joined mock trial during his junior year to get exposure to legal issues and courtroom procedures.
“[Mock trial] helps us develop public speaking skills, analytical abilities, thinking on our feet, and, of course, working together,” Moellring said. “Even if you aren’t interested in law – as some of our team members are not – being a part of this team will help you develop skills that are useful in many aspects of life.”
Moellring received an outstanding witness award at the tournament along with the five other individual student award winners.
“About 90 percent of our work is done outside of the courtroom, which includes time spent in class, practicing as a team and working on our individual roles,” he said. “But when we actually present our case and our argument in trial, all of this work comes together. I love it when our team is focused and united in our goal of performing to the highest level possible.”
