The Mock Trial club aims to corral the rowdy kangaroos bouncing around in the court system through a fun extracurricular activity. Our young lawyers are eager to balance the scales of lady justice, for justice.
The club hosts scrimmages twice in January in preparation for the big state tournament case on March 6 at the Dane County Court House in Madison.
It operates less like a club and more like a sport, according to Mr. Soquet, teacher/coach of the club. Soquet organizes practice and aids preparation for cases. De Pere is just one of the many teams participating, and Wisconsin has around 100 teams participating each year, fighting valiantly in the tribunal for the prestigious title of Mock Trial state champion.
Competing against multiple teams is a thrill, to say the least, according to Miles Wiegand, a senior with eager aspirations to enter the law field. “I would say the scrimmages or actually competing because I enjoy all that,” he said. “It’s really fun because you’re actually playing the part as a lawyer in a courtroom.”
During its “season” – starting in Oct. and lasting until the end of Feb., even later if the team makes it to state – members meet twice a week to research the case. Students are given a fictitious yet realistic case written by attorneys on the Wisconsin Bar. Case material includes, but is not limited to affidavits, exhibits and documented evidence which students formulate into a case for their client.
“This has great value for young people who want to be lawyers, because they get a feel for researching the case,” Soquet said. “They get a feel for developing question techniques, your ability to ask the right question to get the answer out of the witness.”
The cases are also relatable enough to concepts high school students have interest in to make them less dull and dreary. For example, Soquet mentioned last year’s case was about the murder of the fictitious Astor Rufflebottom, a participant who was killed over a tournament for a computer game called “Castledusk”. More amusing names featured in the case were Taylor-Blavins Swift and Carne (Carne, as in carnival) Mustard. More information about last year’s trial can be found on the official website here.
The topics lighten the seriousness of the case, easing students into a highly professionalized environment. The basis of this year’s case is ostriches on an ostrich farm being quite unlawfully released/getting out of their enclosure.
The team is divided into halves: one half is the plaintiffs/prosecutors, and the other half includes the defense. Each side has three witness roles, as well as three attorneys. The witness plays the role of the people involved in the case, and the attorneys plan and present the case. There is an attorney coach who is in charge of helping the attorneys develop questions and strategizing for a case. The current attorney coach, Natalie Mulvey, is a former DPHS student who was in mock trial. She is now a district attorney working in Brown County.
“If you’re interested into digging into a case, either as an attorney or as a witness, this a great experience for you,” Soquet said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to bond with other people, because you have to work as a team, you’re three lawyers, one side of the case. Even if you don’t want to pursue a career as a trial attorney, whether you take on a role in mock trial as a witness or as an attorney, the public speaking skills are really amazing. You need those in so many different careers.”
