The LHS Mock Trial Team wins championshiip Take nine bright students. Add two experienced coaches. Stir in hours and hours of practice. That’s the recipe for the championship Lawrence High School Mock Trial Team.
By: Lea Kahn
The mock trial team earned its ninth consecutive championship at the Mercer County finals last week, and it is headed for the Central New Jersey regional competition later this month. The winner of that contest will move on to the statewide semi-final competition and possibly the March 15 statewide championship round.
Each year, high schools around the state compete in the Vincent J. Apruzzese High School Mock Trial Competition. The contest is sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and the state’s county bar associations. The mock trial teams argue the same case before a two-judge panel, which is made up of judges or lawyers.
To win the Mercer County championship this year, the Lawrence High School Mock Trial Team defeated teams from Princeton Day School, The Lawrenceville School, Princeton High School and Hightstown High School.
Lawrence mock trial team coaches Mark Rowe and Steven Goodell agree that the key to success is finding bright students who are willing to work hard. Mr. Rowe teaches history at the high school, and Mr. Goodell is a partner at the Princeton-based law firm of Herbert Van Ness Cayci & Goodell PC.
This year, 22 students tried out for nine slots on the team, Mr. Rowe said. The students who try out are all bright, and many of them are enrolled in honors classes, he said. Deciding whom to pick is often difficult, but there are certain qualities that are desirable and that make some candidates stand out, said Mr. Rowe, who has been coaching mock trial for 12 years.
"You look for someone with a good memory. They have to be strong and loud and have a confident voice. They have to think on their feet. They have to be able to react to different questions and situations that’s the most important thing," Mr. Rowe said.
"My most important job is to provide a team for Steve to work with. I can spot a good ‘mock trial-er’ a mile away. (But) this year, I did more to coach the team," Mr. Rowe said, adding that Mr. Goodell has been trying a lawsuit in Mercer County Superior Court since January.
The most important element of the formula is Mr. Goodell’s experience as a lawyer, Mr. Rowe said. He spent three years in the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office before entering private practice 12 years ago and has been a team coach for 13 years.
While Mr. Goodell acknowledges that he brings his professional experience to the team, he said that it is Mr. Rowe’s "infectious" enthusiasm that inspires the students to work hard.
"I think the most important thing we do is that we convince the students that they can do it. We give them the confidence to think of themselves as champions. You can’t be a winner unless you think you are a winner. Once you get a good team and you get a good tradition (of winning), it helps," Mr. Goodell said.
Another advantage is that the mock trial team has made it to the statewide final contest four times in the last eight years, which means it has played against the best mock trial teams in the state, Mr. Goodell said.
The Lawrence High School team has placed second in the state two times, and it has placed third in the state two times.
Once the team has been assembled, the practice sessions begin. This year’s team began practicing in December. The team practices on a weekly basis in the beginning, but as the competition date grows closer, the pace picks up. The team began practicing twice a week and then four times a week.
"It’s like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. You go through the case and you extract the little things that will help or hurt your case. Then we put it all together. We practice direct examination of the witnesses and then we practice cross-examination of the witnesses," Mr. Rowe said.
The student attorneys practice their opening and closing arguments. They work on the objections that could be raised against the other team’s lawyers. Finally, the team puts all of the elements together and polishes its presentation, Mr. Rowe said.
During the practice sessions, the coaches also try to drum in the fundamentals of trial tactics how to argue persuasively, how to get to the relevance of a particular issue and how to articulate an argument precisely, Mr. Goodell said.
A trial attorney wants to keep things simple and to be a credible advocate so that the jury which is an attorney’s audience believes that it can trust what he is telling them, Mr. Goodell said. That’s what he tries to get across to the students, he said.
"We teach the students that they shouldn’t try to be like the television image of a lawyer," said Mr. Goodell. "You have to be yourself. That is the way to be most effective. Everything starts with your own personality. There is a role for everybody. There are excellent lawyers who are shy, and ones who are stage actors," he said.
Mr. Goodell and Mr. Rowe said this year’s team has come quite far, quite fast. Mock trial teams generally begin practicing in November for the countywide competition, which occurs in mid- to late-February. But this year the team began practicing later for a contest that occurred earlier.
The two coaches praised mock trial team member Julie Figueira, who plays the role of plaintiffs’ attorney. The high school senior also plays the role of the defendants’ attorney, depending on which side the mock trial team is playing. She was named "Most Valuable Player" by the Mercer County Bar Association, which sponsors the competition, at the countywide contest.
Asked how the mock trial team developed its winning streak, Julie summed up the team’s success in three words presentation, practice and knowledge of the law.
"It might sound simple, but a lot of teams don’t know the rules," she said. "We know courtroom demeanor. You call the judge ‘Your honor,’ you stand up when the judge comes into the courtroom, and you act professionally. You speak up, you speak confidently, and you don’t use notes. That is impressive to the judge.
"Being able to break down the case into simple themes helps. Steve is able to explain the law to us to the point that we can repeat it to the judge. Steve gives us little tips on presentation and style, and big tips on the law," she said.
"Steve has a real understanding of what mock trial is all about," she said. "He can make it so that it’s us talking we can articulate it in our own words. He understands the difference between mock trial and a real trial. You have the feeling that other coaches make the team sound like little lawyers."
Julie said she tried out for the mock trial team as a freshman because she was interested in law. She said she has been encouraged to consider law as a career because she likes to argue and she won’t quit until she wins but lately, she’s not so sure that she wants to pursue it as a career.
"I don’t want to be a lawyer as much as when I started on the mock trial team," she said. "I have developed other interests veterinary medicine, for example. It has lessened my interest in becoming a lawyer, but I still might go to law school."
In the meantime, being part of the mock trial team has given her more confidence in her abilities. She knows that if she chooses law as a career, she will be successful, she said.