8 | November/December 2022 | BAEC Bulletin Mock Trial: Why We Do It & What It Means
Building a Pipeline of Future WNY Lawyers BY CRAIG BUCKI, HON. HENRY J. NOWAK, OLIVER YOUNG I have been involved in practically all facets of the New York State High School Mock Trial Program. My very first association with the program was serving in 1982 as an attorney-advisor for a school. I then worked with a second school for three years (1983-86). The second school had more than a modicum of success, having placed second in the statewide Mock Trial Finals in 1986. In 1987, I joined the Law, Youth and Citizenship (LYC) Committee of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA). The LYC Committee, along with NYSBA’s LYC Program, is in charge of the mock trial program, which includes drafting the case materials each year, recruiting attorney-advisors for schools across the state, securing judges for the matches and managing the statewide finals in Albany. For three years (2003-06), I served as chair of the LYC Committee. I subsequently joined LYC’s Mock Trial Subcommittee and from 2008 to the present have served as the principal drafter of, or significant contributor to, each mock trial case since that time. About eighteen lawyers from across the state comprise the Mock Trial Subcommittee and while it involves a significant amount of work, our reward is seeing the commitment, dedication, and effort the students put into the endeavor each year. Although the mock trial program is called a competition, we try to de-emphasize the competitive nature of the program and seek to keep the focus on the educational component of the exercise. Students not only learn about the law, trial techniques, evidentiary rules, and rules of procedure, they also learn how to think on their feet, how to operate under pressure, how to engage in civil discourse, how to work together in a group, and perhaps more importantly how not to be so dogmatic in their thinking (because they have to prepare and present both sides of the case, and hopefully come to realize that there might be more than one valid perspective on an issue.) All in all, what I have observed over the years is that we have ordinary students stepping forward to do something extraordinary. I hope you will join this important endeavor as an attorney-advisor or judge to witness for yourself the brilliance of these young people.
“Your Honor, calling this witness an expert in accounting is like calling Shaquille O’Neal an expert in free-throw shooting – just because they do it a lot doesn’t make them good at it!” Annika Wilewicz, City Honors Sophomore, Numerous Rounds of the High School Mock Trial Tournament. So many moments made us smile – creative arguments, clever analogies, vivid themes. As coaches of last year’s Erie County championship team, we got to know twelve wonderful kids. We taught them, challenged them, praised them, laughed with them, and consoled them. We promised them documents would get into evidence and apologized when judges kept them out. By the time we reached the State finals, we felt like we had been engaged in a perilous journey together, where everyone had to carry their own weight and lend a hand when others slipped or stumbled. The case crafted by the Young Lawyers’ Committee of the State Bar Association always includes enough twists and turns to encourage creativity and guarantee surprise from opposing teams and judges, round after round. Students quickly appreciate that the arguments they prepared, which always worked in practice, may backfire spectacularly in competition. At first they were bewildered, but by the season’s end could imitate us saying, “I’ve gotta tell you, this happens in real cases all the time.” The students see enough courtroom drama on TV to pick up the basics pretty quickly – what a leading question is, the role of experts and why they need to by qualified. Hearsay and its exceptions are tougher, as they are for all of us. Our practices are filled with tinkering with the phrasing or sequence of questions, exploring ways to minimize damage or challenge relevancy, and managing what to do if a witness contradicts their prior statement, refuses to answer or rambles on and on. Spending time with the students, analyzing the facts and applying the law and rules of evidence, is often the most fulfilling part. We watch them learn together and are reminded that lawyering is a craft, an art. The Bar Association takes great care to support the teams and ensure that the competition is fair and inclusive. If you haven’t yet participated in the New York High School Mock Trial tournament as either a coach or a judge, certainly volunteer this year. It is one of the more rewarding activities we have experienced as attorneys. You will create memories that last for years.
HON. HENRY J. NOWAK Erie County Supreme Court Eighth Judicial District
OLIVER C. YOUNG Of Counsel Barclay Damon
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