Mock Trial Returns; Students Get a Close View of the Law, While Judges and Lawyers Contribute to the Future of the Legal Profession
Snohomish Superior Court Judge Miguel Duran credits his experience on a Mock Trial team at his Texas High school with getting him started in law.
The team was started by his school’s debate coach, and was also coached by a local attorney, “I was hooked on the entire experience — the camaraderie of building a team through the program, the fun of analyzing the issues and going through the witness statements, and ultimately figuring out how to build a case,” said Duran, who was appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Inslee in 2022.
“I just knew afterwards that was something I wanted to do,” Duran said. “I was going to law school and I’d be going into the legal profession.”
These programs give many legal professionals their introduction to law, and is responsible for many of Washington’s judges’ and attorneys’ first steps into the field. This is a large reason why every year, hundreds of attorneys and judicial officers across the state volunteer to rate and judge high school teams competing in regional tournaments held throughout the school year and at the state finals.
“As a rater or judge, you pick up an incredible sense of affirmation when you see all of these young people super tuned into what we do,” “Duran said. “Seeing those students approach these issues in new ways and being fascinated by some of the same concerns we haven’t been able to conquer revitalizes all of us and makes us glad that we offered our time as volunteers to help them with feedback.”
For the first time since 2020, hundreds of high-school students from two dozen Washington schools came together at the Thurston County Courthouse in spring of 2023 to compete in the YMCA Mock Trial State Championship. The competition had been held remotely for the past three years.
After a weekend of intense competition where students participated in a true-to-life court proceeding, presenting the different sides of a fictitious case, Seattle Prep High School’s Blue Team edged out Skyline High School’s Green Team to take the Washington State 2023 YMCA Mock Trial championship.
Seattle Prep went on to place fourth in the national competitions that took place last May to finish a strong season.
“For the first time since March 2020, Mock Trial featured students competing in-person in multiple venues throughout the state,” said Clark County Superior Court Judge Robert Lewis, who serves as chair of Washington’s YMCA Mock Trial program. “We were thrilled to have students return to the Thurston County Courthouse for this year’s state tournament, so they could experience what it’s like to advocate in a real courtroom setting.”
Launching a New Mock Trial Team
The competition served as the first year back in person for all teams, but for one group of students, the event had extra meaning.
This was Sequim High School’s first year with a mock trial team, and in addition to making it to the state championship in their first season of competition, they also received the Downing Values Award. The award is voted on by the competing schools for the team whose sportsmanship and decorum most embodied the spirit of Mock Trial.
After having moved to Sequim a year earlier from Colorado, Susan Fisch was looking for something new to do in retirement after serving as a public defender for 21 years and a judge for another 11 before moving to Washington. She was eventually introduced to Patrice Johnson, another retired lawyer and a member of the Sequim school board.
Together, they started a mock trial team to fill the gaps in extracurriculars in the area.
They quickly found organizing in a small town has its benefits. The superintendent and high school’s principal were both enthusiastic and approved a mock trial team immediately, with the principal finding a faculty advisor to serve as the third coach the very next day. Shortly after, they contacted the YMCA of Seattle to join the program, and almost immediately were on a Zoom call with the YMCA program coordinators and the coach of Seattle Prep getting their team started.
The entire process happened in less than a month and only six months later, Sequim was taking their team, now 14 strong, to the State Championship. There, Sequim made such an impression in their first season, they were voted by their peers as the team that best embodied the spirit of the competition.
“To be honored by the other kids they’re competing against means so much to them, and shows that they understand that you can be an advocate, and you can do it with civility, and you can do it respectfully, which you don’t always see on a daily basis in court,” Fisch, now one of Sequim’s coaches, said
“After each round they went up to teams and shook hands and congratulated the other kids. We did not tell them to do that. This is who they are, and that made us so proud.”
Research has shown that students who are involved in effective, law-related education programs show greater interest in their studies, more respect for their teachers and have a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities.
“Being able to practice public speaking and the problem-based education of putting the pieces together and having to think through it quickly was very engaging to them,” Saralyn Pozernick said. “Also, just learning professionalism and being able to speak civilly to others you may be in conflict with are great skills to have moving forward.”
Pozernick is a social studies teacher at Sequim High School and faculty advisor to the mock trial team. She made the creation of the team possible after volunteering for the position when a call went out for a teacher to help run the team.
According to Pozernick and Fisch, the impact of Mock Trial has been clear on the team. In addition to a group of several students who have been inspired to pursue law school, the team is planning a voter registration drive in exchange for all the help the local League of Women’s Voters gave them, and have been becoming more civically engaged in their town.
MOCK TRIAL IS BACK AGAIN THIS YEAR!
Teams have already begun their season, with this year’s case being released and the 2024 state competition set to run March 22–24 at the Pierce County Courthouse.
This year’s case centers around the will and estate of a deceased woman, and whether her eccentric will — much of which is dedicated to her beloved cat, “Whiskers” — is legitimate or whether it had been manipulated or coerced from her at a time when she did not have the capacity to make the decision for herself.
If you’re an active or retired judge or attorney and interested in volunteering to rate or judge for this year’s competition, contact Nicole Ack at: Nicole.Ack@courts.wa.gov.
Read more from our annual State of the Judiciary report.
