After last week the article about why to come support the Raptor sports teams, we wanted to shed some light on the real competitors of our school, the Mock Trial team. Coming off a region win and getting fifth place in the state tournament the team is hoping to strengthen their skills and crush the competition this year. 

For those who are not aware what the Mock Trial team is all about I will give y’all a quick overview of what they are all about. To get a better understanding of what Mock Trial is all about I asked the co-captain Jack Tierney how they introduce it to every person who is interested in Mock Trial. He told me that he sent the same email to every person who signed up and this is what it was, 

“Commitment:

Mock Trial is a rigorous and time-consuming club that you will have to be committed to and ready to devote and sacrifice time to participate and later compete. 

All members have to try out. We have limited spots so tryouts will be competitive. There are two sides: Prosecution/Plaintiff and Defense

3 attorneys on each side (6 attorneys per team in total)

3 witnesses on each side (6 witnesses per team in total)

Competitions:

We compete in the Regional competition which is February 28th, 2026. 

After that, if we make it to the State competition (which we have every year), that will be March 13-14, 2026. If you make the team, you MUST be available to attend both competitions. 

During the competition, there are mock jurors (who are actual attorneys and other legal jobs) and a real judge who scores you and your team which is how teams either move on to the State competition and later National competition or not. 

Tryout information:

We will be holding tryouts sometime at the start of October, the date is tentative so I will send another email to confirm those dates. 

The case for this year will be released on September 15th, so please keep in mind you will only be able to start prepping for your tryout once the case has been released. Once the case is released, specifics about tryouts will be sent out. We will send the case to everyone that shows up to the first meeting. 

I will attach last year’s case if you would like to see an example of what this year’s case will look like.” 

Wow, this sounds quite intense, but this is definitely worth it. To take home the gold the team will have to work quite hard and long hours. There’s no doubt that they will be able to achieve greatness this year with the captain structure of Mateus Guimares and Joseph “Jack” Tierney, two very intellectual and witty people, they can lead the team with the same fierce determination that their seniors showed them when they were freshman. 

I thought it would be a great idea to hear form the people who participate on the team. To get some real information from those who are in the courtroom fighting to briung hold the gold for Academic Magnet High School.

We will start out with Hank Houseal- a junior on the team whose role is an alternate witness. I asked him why he chose to participate on the team and whether or not he liked it.  He responded with “I chose to be on mock trial because I thought it would be a good resource for me to figure out if I wanted to pursue law as a career. I like it a lot and it is a lot of fun to get to debate with my teammates about the case. It also is a good time to hang out with friends at practice. My role on the team allows me to improve my public speaking skills and think critically under pressure. I enjoy the experience because it gets me to do something that I would never get the opportunity to do otherwise and pushes me out of my comfort zone.”  

-Great to hear that you get a lot of collaboration time with your teammates!

Next, Sophie Skaff, another junior and a defense attourney on the team was asked the same question as Hank, her response was “My name is Sophie Skaff and I am a defense attorney on a mock trial this year. I think it’s a really fun and interesting club that introduces you to the basic rules of law and how trials actually work. You get to practice speaking, arguing your case, and thinking quickly in a fun setting. Mateus and Jack make the club interesting, for example, by having us learn objections through fun games. Overall, it’s a great club that introduces you to a lot of aspects of law and the procedures of trials.”

-wow this is awesome to hear, makes me wish that I had joined the team!

Another interview included junior defense attorney alternate Emma Miars, when asked the same question as Hank and Sophie, she responded with “Mock trial has been a solid learning experience for me as a defense attorney alternate. I stay involved by reviewing case materials, tracking objections, and helping the team refine arguments. Even when I’m not the one speaking, I’m expected to be ready to step in, which means understanding the case just as well as the active attorneys. Jack and Mateus make it fun and riveting. The team is very engaged and works well together. I have learned so much and hope to continue next year!”

-sounds exciting Emma, I hope next year will still be fun even though presidents Jack and Mateus will be gone 🙁

Lastly we heard from Junior witness Jack Manheimer. When asked the same question he responded with “Being on a mock trial is a cool experience. I joined because I like the show Suits, and that’s kind of what mock trial is like. Practice usually happens once a week, and we just work on crossing and directly examining our witnesses. The goal is to make and win states, and hopefully we will this year. If you like Suits or lawyers, you should definitely join.

You can change it if you want to.”

-Awesome!

I hope that this article gives you some information that will be valuable to making your choice to join the Mock Tiral team. Good Luck this year!!!