Over 50 alumni, faculty and students gathered at the Guild Lounge in Scott Hall on Saturday evening to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Northwestern Mock Trial. 

Attendees were welcomed into the lounge with light refreshments, and the reunion event began with an opening speech from Weinberg senior Téa Bartlett, the club’s president. 

Bartlett said she has been involved in mock trials since her freshman year. She described the club as a competitive but simultaneously social one, noting that every year looks slightly different with each group’s unique flair.

“Northwestern Mock Trial is pretty unique in the sense that we are a completely student-led club,” Bartlett said. “We have coach support, but all of our teaching is done by students. What that means is that it ends up being knowledge being passed down over and over.”

Former mock trial coach and Pritzker Prof. Nabil Foster (Pritzker ’00) attended the reunion event Saturday evening

Foster, who is currently a lawyer at Barron & Newburger, P.C. and professor of Pritzker’s trial advocacy program and legal ethics program, was a Mock Trial coach from 1998 to the early 2000s. He said Mock Trial helped him discover his passion for teaching. 

The Pritzker alumnus said he was thrilled to receive the flyer about the reunion event, as he had great memories of his time traveling with the team for competitions. 

He also said Mock Trial is an opportunity for students from a cross-section of backgrounds and fields of study to come together with the common interest in trial advocacy and grow as individuals. 

“That’s what I like most about it, and why I think this reunion works,” Foster said. “It’s an activity where you really start to learn about yourself and your teammates. Everyone does better when they collaborate.”

Bartlett emphasized that building trust is central to both the program and the organization’s identity. She said students often form close bonds with the 7 to 10 members on their teams, especially through the time spent preparing for competitions and traveling together.

One of her favorite memories, she recalled, was traveling to Washington, D.C., for a tournament during her freshman year.

“The night after the first day, we went and walked to the Capitol and took pictures outside,” Bartlett said. “There was no one else there. We were all laughing and having such a great time. I thought that’s so emblematic of what Northwestern Mock Trial is. You lock in for competition, but then afterwards you just have fun with your team too.” 

The weekend also included the sixth annual mock trial tournament, Mock at the Rock, which ran from Saturday to Sunday. The tournament consisted of four rounds total, each lasting about three hours, with two rounds held on Saturday and two on Sunday. 

Medill sophomore April Arabian said it was her second time competing at Mock at the Rock. This year, she is serving as a double-sided witness.

“It’s been going really awesome,” Arabian said. “We have a team that just absolutely loves each other, and we play off of each other so well. It’s just really beautiful to see all of us sit in a room and figure things out on the fly.” 

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