Students act as attorneys, witnesses in UI organization
Arguments are a way of life for members of the Moscow Undergraduate Mock Trial team.
“We’re all about the argument,” said Alyssa Pietz, team spokeswoman. “Our members are people of all majors and interests who just really love to argue and prove that they’re more right than others.”
The Moscow Undergraduate Mock Trial team is a competition club that creates simulated courtroom trial scenarios and competes in various tournaments against other schools throughout the academic year.
Alyssa Pietz | Courtesy
Moscow Undergraduate Mock Trial team member Max Cowan gives his closing argument in 2012 acting as the plaintiff’s attorney in the simulated case Allen v. Neptune Diving Company in the Idaho Commons.
The competitions take place on regional, national and open-round championship levels in which students receive a single mock court case from the American Mock Trial Association and develop both plaintiff and defense strategies.
Pietz said the club began four years ago and has been growing ever since.
“It’s a big building year for us,” Pietz said. “We’re a relatively new team and are just trying to get our name out in the mock trial world and also on campus.”
The cases vary from criminal to civil, and can even present elements of both.
“This year we have a civil case,” Pietz said. “It’s about a couple who lost their child to a gun incident in their home, a neighbor came over and used the gun on their daughter so now they are taking the neighbor to court to sue for parental negligence or intentional shooting … it’s a civil case, but has a criminal aspect to it.”
Team members perform different and often multiples roles in the court, Pietz said.
In this year’s case she plays two roles — the plaintiff, the woman who lost her daughter, and an attorney.
Since the number of roles needed in a courtroom is limited, Pietz said members compete in smaller sub-teams composed of three attorneys and three witnesses.
Alyssa Pietz | Courtesy
Moscow Undergraduate Mock Trial team takes notes on a case
Although students study, perform and develop arguments for a case as a team, each member is judged on an individual level in competitions.
Pietz, who has been a member of the team since her freshman year at the University of Idaho, said while many students believe the club is exclusively for pre-law students, the team attracts members from a number of different disciplines.
She said current and past members often major in varying subjects, such as Clare Haley, who received a degree last month in International Studies.
“Mock trial is great for people who are interested in debate or law, but philosophy is also a common department,” Pietz said. “We even have members who are wildlife resources majors.”
For Haley, a UI alumna and former mock trial member, the draw was more about the people than the competitive nature of the team.
“Joining the team wasn’t really a conscious choice,” Haley said in December. “They were meeting in my dorm and I was doing laundry at the time … they invited me to sit in on their meeting and we all really clicked together.”
Beyond competition and performing, Pietz said the team’s priority is how they present themselves and relate to one another.
“Our members have been performing well individually this year, but our collective attitude is the most important,” she said. “In the past, we’ve received the Spirit of AMTA award, which is given to the friendliest and most civil team … even if we don’t always make it to the next level of competition, we strive for that award every year.”
In addition to the camaraderie, Pietz said the team is a combination of community and communication.
“The season starts in August, that’s when we get new cases and when we look for new members … mock trial helps with people skills, things like reading a room, constructing a solid argument, speaking to an audience,” Pietz said. “The list of benefits is endless, it’s a good life club.”
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected]