Mock trial wins first regionals

For the first time in its history, two Princeton Mock Trial teams clinched both of the qualifying positions for the National Collegiate Championship Tournament in April.

"It's just a thrill," said Tom Brown '07, the president of Princeton Mock Trial and a co-captain of the runner-up team. "There are only seven other schools in the country that are [sending two teams], some of them real powerhouses."

Both the winning team and the runner-up of each regional competition advance to the national championships, held this year in Des Moines, Iowa. There are 22 regional championships and two "play-in" tournaments that fill out the 64-team field. Though past teams have gone on to nationals, no Princeton team has been crowned regional champion in the program's eight-year history.

"It's going to be a tough field, but we're looking forward to it," Brown said. "It's a 64-team tournament out there. I guess you could call it similar to March Madness, except in April."

Mike Vu '06, co-captain of the winning team, said the victory was a nice end to four years of mock trial. "For me, it's really exciting to see everything come together our senior year and have us graduate on top," he said, noting that "we not only beat Harvard, but we knocked them out of the nationals."

But in some ways, Princeton Mock Trial is an unlikely champion. Many mock trial teams receive class credit and adult coaching. Princeton's does not.

"We don't necessarily have the same time to commit to it as [larger programs do], but we can still try to make it up in the trial with a little ingenuity, and we're pretty happy with how we stacked up," Brown said.

The conventional mock trial powerhouse stacks its teams, creating an all-star lineup for its best team. Princeton designs its teams to be more or less equal.

"That's one of the good things about Princeton's program," Vu said. "We strongly believe in spreading the talent around. When you try out, you're drafted for a team and you usually stay with your team for all four years. Here at Princeton, we have enough smart people to spread the love around."

As extracurricular activities go, mock trial is a demanding one. Each six-person team gets the groundwork for its case early in fall semester. The case is used throughout the year, at every tournament. The only concrete information consists of affidavits from witnesses, the defendant and sometimes, the plaintiff. Each team prepares both sides of the case, deciding which witnesses to call and how to make its case. Members "play" witnesses or attorneys, memorizing every fact of the affidavit.

At the tournament, the team switches sides each round. The mock trial court is conducted as a real court. Judges score each team and render a verdict.

The Princeton program has experienced a "steady upward trend" in both interest and ability since its start, Brown said. Last year, one team won runner-up in the regional tournament and another placed third.

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"We did have a guy last year, Jonas Jacobson ['05], who won a top attorney award at the national championship, which is pretty sweet," Brown said.

As for this year?

"You could ask anyone on any of the teams, they'd probably all say they're going for it," Brown said.

The captains intend to continue the rise of Princeton Mock Trial. "One of the great things about our program is we just kind of pass things down from year to year. We've got a tradition of excellence to pass down," Brown said. "We're building the next steps for freshmen and prefrosh to come."