The legal season has begun, with students dissecting actual case law. Two teams will compete at the Miami scrimmage and the district competition.
“I probably want to be a lawyer, and I like arguing and debate,” said Theodore Weng, 10.
Each team practicing at different times during the week and from two to four hours per week. With only a varsity and junior varsity team this year due to the lack of legal advisers, these students give it their best effort. Some freshmen have joined the JV team.
“Competitions are really interesting and trial process is really cool,” Weng said.
One new change in the administration of mock trial is that Mr. Andrew Ostendorf ceded his position as the teacher adviser to Mr. Andrew Oakes.
Plaintiff and defense witness and attorneys have been selected for both teams. The teams are preparing for their first invitational at Mockhawk in Miami University.
“It is a fusion of my two favorite extracurriculars: law and theater,” Weng said.
The JV team includes many of the members from last year’s rookie team. Defense attorneys are Carolyn Zhang and Jacob Frankel. The witnesses include Weng, who plays CAT News executive Cameron Carter and Allyson Bonhaus plays expert witness Reese Murphy.
For plaintiff the attorneys are Grace Creek and Nandita Kulkarni. Witnesses are Abhilash Yarlagadda who plays past Governor Justice; Anupama Narayana plays the other expert witness, Dr. Sam Jackson.