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By the Juris Education Interview Team
Jakob Kramer is the Outgoing President of the University of Toronto Mock Trial team and the Co-Founder of Trial & Error Mock Trial Bootcamp. He has competed in over 100 mock trials and led UofT's team to historic achievements, including being the first Canadian team to qualify for the National Championship Series.
Mock trial competitions usually take place across a single weekend, with rounds on both Saturday and Sunday. Competitions will usually have between four and seven rounds, depending on the format. In Canada, it is most common to have three or four rounds on Saturday, with elimination brackets on Sunday to name a champion. In the United States, competitions have two rounds each day, with the champion being named based on the best combined record across the four rounds. Both formats have their pros and cons, with the Canadian system rewarding the best teams who have proven themselves across more rounds and the American system rewarding good teams with stronger matchups and more consistent opponent pairings.
The biggest benefit to students participating in mock trial is that it builds confidence in their public speaking abilities. Whether you play a lawyer or a witness in mock trial, you are forced to speak confidently and convincingly in front of competitors and judges. Mock trial is sometimes like one long improv game, which means that you are forced to keep talking and maintain your confident demeanor even if everything is going wrong.
Mock trial forces you to think critically while speaking, finding unique and personable ways to convince those listening to you, even when you are speaking from a disadvantaged position. After competing in mock trial students have stated that their public speaking abilities have vastly improved, including in the academic context. Even if you don't continue in mock trial for very long, students with mock trial experience have found massive success in other oral advocacy activities because of the “trial by fire” training that public speaking in mock trial provides.
The most challenging part of mock trial has to be the preparation. While so much of the activity depends on live presentation, the preparation required for a competition can be long and tedious. Reading and rereading witness statements for contradictions and researching the law to find novel arguments presents a unique challenge with every new case problem. Preparing for a mock trial competition is no easy feat, requiring dedication and training, but it is absolutely worth it!
The most rewarding part of mock trial is the connections you make with your teammates and competitors. Having done mock trial for 7 years, I can safely say I have met my best friends through the activity. The time spent preparing, traveling, and competing has brought me and my teammates closer than any friendship I've made in my classes. I’ve also formed lasting relationships with students at other schools, all because of mock trial competitions. Meeting students at other schools can be difficult, but through mock trial you are able to connect with them in a space dedicated to your shared passion, introducing you to people you would have never met otherwise.
Mock trial helps deepen a passion for advocacy and the law by introducing students to the intersection between people and the law: the trial. Trials are incredibly impactful in the lives of non-lawyers, often putting someone’s freedom (or other important interests) into their lawyer’s hands. Trials are also where lawyers can have the most direct impact on people’s lives. Therefore, mock trial allows students to come face-to-face with the trial experience and understand exactly how the law can impact others. By questioning witnesses and making arguments, students come to understand how individual lawyers can create change with their words and the impact that a lawyer’s ability can have on someone's entire life.
These experiences will help students pursuing law gain a deeper sense of understanding for the practice of law, not just as something to aspire to, but as something that they can actually do. Law can be difficult for students to understand because it is often shrouded in mystery, but mock trial removes that mystery and lets students experience the life of a lawyer, inspiring confidence in their ability to succeed in the law.
Give it 110%. Mock trial won't benefit you if you don't give it your all. To put it simply, you get what you give. If you put the time into preparing your materials, finding new competitions to attend, and learning from other students, you will be a better competitor and future lawyer. The students I know who have said they have not learned anything from mock trial are the ones who do the bare minimum. The other suggestion I have is to reach out to an experienced competitor or lawyer to mentor you through the mock trial process. As someone who had to build my program from the ground up, having someone who is able to guide you will make sure you spend your time learning and not making the same mistakes as those who have come before you.
Try out for as many as you can. When I got to university, I tried out for both Canadian and American mock trial. I joined both teams and competed at 6 competitions before I picked which type I would specialize in. Every competition will have its strengths and weaknesses, as well as its own unique features, which may appeal to you. The best thing is to compete in as many as you can to get better as a competitor. Once you have figured out what you like and don't like, then you will be able to start deciding where to focus your time. Start by attending the most local competition and going further from there; that way you can learn from those closest to you. This will also hopefully make starting out affordable before you figure out what other cities you want to travel to. Finally, when in doubt, ask a friend or mentor who has competed before; they can help get you started and figure out where to compete first.
Juris Education is proud to interview experts like Jakob Kramer to help future lawyers understand the benefits of extracurricular involvement in college. Learn more about how our experts can help you get into law school today.
