Two Clark University Mock Trial teams took home 4-4 records during a virtual invitational tournament hosted by Rutgers University Nov. 6 and 7.
Clark’s mix of novice and veteran participants competed against strong teams that included the College of William and Mary, New Jersey City University, Quinnipiac University, Stevenson University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Brown University (the eventual first place winner).
The invitational was a preliminary competition that helped prepare Clark’s mock trial team for future tournaments. For the regional tournament in the spring 2022 semester, Clark students will be divided into a novice and veteran team.
Colleen Falconer ’22, a Clark captain, said “both teams did an excellent job adapting to the challenges of competition on the spot.” She added that Clark’s individual performances were particularly impressive. “In my three years of mock trial, I’ve never seen more than two or three members of a program win individual performance awards at any given tournament, so the fact that we had five student awards was unheard of.”
The five individual award winners were Falconer, Annie Zimmerman ’24 (Best Attorney Awards); and John Parish ’24, Ezra Schrader ’24, and Katie Healy ’24 (Best Witness awards).
“We are all very proud of the hard work and dedication of all of the participants on the Clark intercollegiate mock trial teams,” said Professor Mark Miller, director of the Law and Society and Prelaw Advising programs at Clark University. “The large number of award winners on the teams shows the high level of their achievements.”
Other Clark mock trail competitors were Chloe Tomblin ’23, Josie Fitzgerald ’23, Maxwell Redding ’22, Kelly Dodge ’25, Giorgo Capridis Soto ’22, Ellie Zarrow ’24, Isabel Jardiniano ’23, Victoria Kuzma ’24, Glory Phipps ’23, Amritha Pai ’24, Kate McLaughlin ’24, and Ben Cameron ’23.
The Clark teams are coached by Steve Kennedy ’88.
The American Mock Trial Association serves as the governing body for intercollegiate mock trial competition. Through engaging in trial simulations in competition with teams from other institutions, students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills, as well as a knowledge of legal practices and procedures. AMTA sponsors regional and national-level competitions, as well as providing interesting and complex case materials for academic use.
