On March 2, 2024, the mock trial team will drive to the Monroe County Courthouse to compete in this year’s regionals, with students playing the roles of attorneys and witnesses. “At the competition, we compete against other schools in that county,” says co-captain Ava DeBenedet (‘24). “There’s a judge in the courtroom that decides how we did.”

There are two types of cases in mock trials. “There’s civil cases and criminal cases,” says DeBenedet. “For us this year, we’re doing a civil case, which is about somebody suing someone else. And this year, it’s about negligence and liability.”

Each year, the Michigan Center of Civic Education creates cases based on real trials, before students choose which role to play. In the case this year, the plaintiff is a woman named Taylor Tomte. “She has a bunch of super high-value gnomes,” says Nora Lacy (‘27). “[The defendant,] Orville Earhart, had a drone that crashed into these gnomes, and then he died. Taylor is suing because she wants reparations for her gnomes that were destroyed.”

In order to win, the team needs to receive more points than the opposing team. “[The judge] gives you points for certain things like objections, opening and closing statements, and questioning,” says Amelia Repp (‘24), co-captain.

Points are also awarded for theatrics and playing the role well. “My favorite thing about mock trials is being a witness because I get to be very theatrical with it,” says Cate Howard (‘25). “At the competition [last year], I saw other witnesses and it was really cool. One girl [fake] cried because she was so theatrical.”

Since they only have five to six months to practice the case, the team participates in practice exercises to prepare them for regionals, including Kahoots, games, and videos. “At meetings,” says Repp, “we practice trialing, we go through each witness and each attorney, we practice questioning, opening and closing statements, and basically simulate the actual trial.”

Mock trial members learn fundamental skills and courtroom procedures. “I learned a lot more about different types of law,” says Howard. “Like criminal law, civil law, [and] constitutional law. I’ve also learned of the processes [attorneys] have to go through, like entering evidence and objections.”

Learning about law is fun in the club’s welcoming and creative community. “I think [mock trial] is really cool and interesting,” says Lacy. “ I like it all. I like arguing with people, but I feel like it’s weird to say that. I like meeting all the new people.”