Arguing and objecting their way to the top, members of Northwestern’s Mock Trial Team won four individual awards at the Northwestern Invitational held at the Chicago Campus Saturday and Sunday.
Weinberg senior Brandon Dimond and Weinberg junior Lindsay Eyler each won an individual Outstanding Witness Performance award. Dimond and Weinberg junior Stephanie Zosak also won individual awards for Outstanding Attorney Performance.
“It was the first time I won (the Outstanding Attorney award), so it was just really exciting to win,” Zosak said. “(The tournament) was definitely a great experience because we got a lot of good comments and learned what things we need to work on for regionals.”
The tournament hosted 36 teams from 21 colleges and universities around the country. NU has four teams, each composed of three lawyers and three witnesses, who compete separately against teams from other schools in mock court cases. All teams play the role of the plaintiff and the role of the defendant twice during each tournament. A panel of judges and lawyers score the teams on a scale of 1 to 10.
The team from Miami University of Ohio won the first place championship. NU’s team did not place in the top 10.
“This tournament was more of a learning experience where we competed against very strong teams, tried new strategies and saw what works best and what doesn’t,” said Weinberg senior Bryan Reynolds, a team member.
Team members receive a new court case every year and begin training in early October. New team members are also chosen in the fall during a two week tryout period.
This year, the team’s case centers around a college golfer who is injured by a recently released patient, who is mentally ill. The golfer sues the hospital for compensation for his lost golf career, claiming the hospital released the patient knowing he was still mentally ill.
“It’s an interesting case,” Eyler said. “It’s not as factually-centered as those we have always had in the past, but it’s definitely a lot of material to work with.”
The NU team has two full team meetings a week, and each individual team also meets on a regular basis.
“(Practices) are very effective,” Eyler said. “We have five coaches who are very helpful, and since we have four teams, we tend to practice by having scrimmages against each other.”
With a month left to prepare for the regional competition, Mock Trial members said they are ready to work hard and improve their performance.
“We have a lot of work to do, but I think we did well this weekend and can do even better in the months to come,” Eyler said.
Reach Allan Madrid at [email protected].
