On the weekend of Feb. 24 and 25, KSU hosted the American Mock Trial Association’s regional tournament, bringing almost 25 different school teams together on KSU’s campus.
Katherine Knudsen is a volunteer for the team, a KSU professor who teaches the POLS 4466- the Trial Evidence Procedure class that is necessary to become part of the team- and event coordinator for the tournament.
“Twenty-five teams will compete here,” Knudsen said. “Over 600 will compete nationally.” Three hours long each, 13 proceedings took place at a time, spread throughout the Social Science building.
Students in suits, carrying suitcases and poster boards hidden in special bags, scurried from the elevators down all the various hallways of the Social Science building.
KSU has been chosen twice to host the competition.
“The American Mock Trial Association designates schools to host regionals, super-regionals, and nationals every year,” Knudsen said.
Last year, KSU’s ‘A’ team, roughly equivalent to a school’s varsity team, reached the super-regional competition. Knudsen said how far a team gets is “very subjective” and “depends on how the judges feel, how they score.”
Eric Brewton is a judge at the Georgia State Court of Cobb County, and a judge at this year’s competition.
“I judged the competition last year,” Brewton said. “I got an email from Liz Gordon [KSU’s Mock Trial team coordinator], saying they needed judges, so I came back.”
He said the competition provides a good way for undergraduates to get a feel for what they will encounter for real litigation down the road.
“It teaches them to think on their feet, and how to prepare for a case,” Brewton said.
The only differences between a mock case and a real one, he said, were that “Witnesses come with pre-set facts. In real litigation, you’d have to go and see what the facts are. There’s an evaluation process.” Brewton’s law school had no Mock Trial team, he said.
“We had Moot Court, […] which is not as close to the real thing,” he said. Moot Court simulates appellate cases rather than criminal trials.
Eric Butler is a KSU senior, and an attorney in this year’s competition.
“It takes a semester to qualify,” Brewton said. “There are scrimmages, and your final could be being in a competition like this.”
He said that a student’s grade, however, is not dependent on whether they win their case. “No—you get a good grade if you know what […] you’re doing,” he said.
Butler has participated in competitions as both a prosecuting and defense attorney, and said that there are unique challenges involved as an attorney, particularly working for the defense.
