News and Notes: Princeton Mock Trial wins 2nd place in national competition

Princeton Mock Trial was ultimately titled the National Champion Runner Up for the 2014 competition of the American National Mock Trial Tournament, losing to University of California, Los Angeles in a 3-2 ballot decision.The team also received three individual All-American Awards for best witnesses and attorney and placed first in its division with an undefeated record, the first team to do so in the 30-year history of the national competition.

This year was Princeton’s first championship round appearance. UCLA now has four wins and has tied Rhodes College with the second-highest number of championships, behind the University of Maryland College Park with five wins.

Mock Trial is a team-based simulation of a trial in which one team represents the plaintiff and another team the defense. Competitors take on the role of both witnesses and attorneys, performing opening and closing statements, direct and cross examinations before a panel of judges that determines the winner.