By Aidan Fox ’16, Staff Writer

Mock Trial may be the only club that takes more time than any academic class. The members often have ten hours of formal practice a week, and that’s not including all the informal practice that is needed in order for members to perfect their statements. “It’s much more stressful than most people realize, and much more competitive,” said team member Sam Altschuler ’14. Despite the high level of commitment, she said that Mock Trial is “also incredibly rewarding,” remarking on the strong bonds formed between teammates. Andrei Buna ’15 agreed, saying, “Being on the Mock Trial team has been one of my best experiences at NA. I can honestly say [that] I’ve never been closer to any other group of people in my entire life.” Mr. Hawk said that it is rewarding for him as well. “The exciting part of Mock Trial is that every year we get better at what we do. Each year the students set a higher standard for their work, and each year we learn how to better coach them to the next level.” Mathematics teacher, Ms. Gordon, who coaches alongside humanities department member, Mr. Hawk, commented, “It [teaches] great life skills like public speaking. It also takes a great deal of acting skills and improv skills, as well as being able to be quick with responses to another school’s lawyers.” Andrei Buna said he is “on the Mock Trial team because [he] really enjoy[s] acting,” although he points out that far more than acting goes into each and every trial. “A lot of people think Mock Trial is just a mini play that we put on every day. It is nothing like that whatsoever. Lawyers have to know objections, they have to make objections, they have to cross-examine their witnesses, constantly making new questions on the spot. The expert witnesses have to know every little detail about their profession.”

Like real-life law, Mock Trial is not simple. “In September of each year,” explained Mr. Hawk, “the New Jersey Bar foundation sends out a casebook to every competing school.  The casebook contains all the materials necessary to put on a trial, including stipulations, rules of evidence, rules of procedure, affidavits, exhibits, and rubrics.” The students are then assigned their “job” for the trial. They may represent the plaintiff, the defense, or they may be a witness or expert.

This year’s very successful season is the seventeenth year of Mock Trial at NA. The club was founded by Mrs. Betty Newman in 1989, who decided that her AP US History class would prepare the case of State v. Martha Moore. After winning the Essex county tournament for the fifth year in a row, the NA Mock Trial team qualified for the north regional finals for the first time ever. They have rolled past the first two rounds of that tournament, in which any loss would “effectively end our season,” according to Mr. Hawk. “I am incredibly proud of this team.  It has a huge quantity of natural talent. It is a team that consistently impresses all of the legal professionals that we meet with over the course of the season.”