Some people’s knowledge of the law is from watching the TV series “Suits” where Harvey Specter and his team take on the courtroom. New Hartford students have the opportunity to experience a real courtroom in person; Mock trial is a club which guides students in preparing a case and taking on the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a fictional trial.
“Mock Trial was an interesting club to try out because I thought I would want a career in law but wasn’t entirely sure.” Mock Trial gave me a way to discern that,” Olympia Pratt, a senior at New Hartford Senior High School said.
Mock trial is a statewide tournament. There are 8 different regions and 3-4 counties. The New Hartford Mock Trial team’s region includes teams from Watertown to Binghamton for their regular season. Mock Trial is held through the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA). It is a way for attorneys and judges to try to get students involved in the law. Mock Trial Takes “real world cases” for students to act out as the attorney or witness. Each county sends six of their best people to go to trial, but there could be 20 people on a team. The students are given one case and alternate roles.
The preparation for Mock Trial is mostly done alone, so each student has to hold themselves accountable. Each student must read through all the material and attorneys make up questions that they think will get the point across. Witnesses memorize what happened from the case notes and practice responding to the attorneys’ questions.
The case for the Mock Trial season this year is a civil case – Leyton Manns V. Sandy Towns. The case is about an administrator who wants to run for senate. Manns (administrator) is suing Towns (student) for supposedly creating an AI deepfake (AI deepfake is images, audio, or videos that are generated using artificial intelligence) that tarnished their career to the point where they had to drop out of the race for senate.
Mr. Anderson is currently the coach for the Mock Trial team at New Hartford. Before Mr. Anderson, Mr. Whitton (the previous social studies department chair) had coached the Mock Trial Team. Mr. Anderson took over in 2009-2010. For a couple years Mrs. Deep and Mr. Anderson co-coached the team together.
“I find Mock Trial interesting because I like to see my students grow and watch them become more confident in what they are doing.” Mr. Anderson said
“There was one student I remember from five or six years ago that was extremely shy but by the time they had gotten to their senior year they were more confident in what they were doing,” Mr. Anderson said. He enjoys advising the club because he likes seeing them grow into confident people.
Troy Luley, a senior who participates in Mock Trial enjoys preparing the case, and attending the trials. He joined because he thought “Mock Trial would be a good way to become better at law.”
“I also wanted to try Mock Trial to help with public speaking,” Troy said.
Mr. Anderson also agrees that Mock Trial helps students develop better communication skills
“Mock trial is a good opportunity for students to get better at public speaking but also taking the opportunity to become interested in law,” Mr. Anderson said.
Mock Trial is a great opportunity to improve your public speaking skills and to see if you are interested in law. They meet every Friday in Mr. Anderson’s room (272) during lunch and are open to more people joining.
