To give students experience in arguing every type of case, the Mock Trial assignment of the year is a civil suit about a death resulting from the victim’s reaction to a nut allergy. Students are breaking down into teams to study the assignment. 

Each team will have two plaintiff attorneys, two defense attorneys, a bailiff and four witnesses. They will be preparing for competitions starting in November.

“They’re forming a team of eight, and the bare minimum we can go with is five, which we don’t want to do,” Mock Trial teacher co-sponsor Emmanuel Hernandez said. “It’s already a lot of stress when it’s a team of eight, but anywhere like the bare minimum, five, is tough on them.”

There is an unusually large number of teams this year compared to seasons in the past. Six years ago, there were fewer than 25 students in the program, and today there are almost 120 members. 

“It’s just grown to a whole different level,” Hernandez said. “We have more teams, more opportunities, more chances for students to take leadership roles.” 

One such student, senior Team Captain Carl Dela Cruz, is preparing for competitions by practicing arguing as both a plaintiff and a defense attorney. He says understanding the opposition’s perspective is the most effective way to study the new case. 

“Then by the time you actually get to the courtroom, you know exactly what they’re going to say,” Cruz said. “And then once you’re in their head, you got it on lock.”

Mock Trial also prepares by inviting a law professor and his students from Saint Mary’s University to watch practices and give the LMS students pointers. These pointers bridge the gap between the classroom and the courtroom and especially help the first year students.

“When people first join Mock Trial, they’re kind of afraid to step their toes into the case,” Cruz said. “But as soon as those St. Mary’s people step in, our kids’ eyes are opened.”

The attorneys fix technical problems by making sure questions are direct, advising students to talk with their hands less or suggesting that a student stands when saying something. 

“I think that helps the team a lot, especially right before going to competition,” Hernandez said.

The team has advanced from the district to the state level in competition in previous years, but they’re hoping to make it to nationals this time.

“We’re trying to reach that level, it’s just pretty tough,” Hernandez said. “It’s like 30, almost 40, schools we compete against. You pretty much have to get first or second place to advance.”

That first or second place win is especially difficult to secure when going up against magnet schools in Dallas or Houston that are geared specifically towards Mock Trial. Hernandez believes that they will be the toughest competitors for Marshall.

“We have to practice after school, but they actually have periods during the school day where they practice, and they practice after school,” Hernandez said. “I think it gives them that edge, that advantage.”

The Mock Trial students are working hard to challenge these competitors and make up for the time they aren’t able to practice.

“I have faith in all the other people in the program that if we do our job to the best of our ability, we will pull through,” Cruz said.