On Feb. 8 and 9, the Hamilton Mock Trial team traveled to Buffalo, New York, to participate in the Regional Mock Trial Tournament. The tournament, which was held at the State University College at Buffalo (SUNY) and is one of 32 Regional Mock Trial Tournaments hosted around the country where the top 16–26 teams compete to advance to the next round. Hamilton’s B and A team scored first and third respectively out of 19 other teams, advancing to the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS).
If the team places within the top six at ORCS, they will move on to the National Championship where the top 48 Mock Trial teams in the country compete for the final round title. Each team that competes in regionals is given four trials total, two of which they are the prosecution and the other two they are the defense.
Each round works much like an actual trial where attorneys on each team can call three witnesses to testify. At the end of the trial, two judges give each side a score and the differential between them determines the winner.
Hamilton’s team has consistently performed well in the past, and co-captain Ryan Stewart ’21 says that this year is no different. Stewart explains how, despite being relatively young, the team has worked incredibly hard to get to this point and may have a chance at making Nationals.
While the team has made it past regionals before they have struggled to advance to the final round, so Stewart and his co-captain Isabelle Mosbargar ’20 are excited to see what this season has in store. While the spring is their most competitive season, the team works hard throughout the school year meeting two nights a week to go over scripts, memorize and prepare to compete. The team also stays pretty busy in the fall with various invitational tournaments.
These events are not affiliated with the American Mock Trial Association, but are independently organized by schools in the region. While these tournaments do not contribute to any national standings, they do help the team practice for the spring in a slightly less stressful environment. Whether one sees law as a hobby or as a career, Mock Trial is a great way to experience the environment of a courtroom. According to Stewart, around three-quarters of the team plans on studying law after Hamilton.
