Notre Dame Mock Trial Association

ASU Invitational Tournament

Randy — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:57:00 +0000

Notre Dame sent one team to ASU and took fourth place (6-2), with Joe Eno receiving a best witness award for his portrayal of Lynn Montana.

Tournament Update

Allie — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 03:49:00 +0000

We sent two teams to the Scarlet and Gray Invitational at Ohio State University which occurred over the course of October 27-28, and the results are in!

Individual Award Winners:

Phil Langthorne, Outstanding Witness (Dr. Rubenstein)
Amanda Fritsch, Outstanding Witness (Dawn Francis)
Michelle Schmidt, Outstanding Witness (Dr. Montana)
Grant Schmidt, Outstanding Witness (Sal Dritz)
David Greene, Outstanding Attorney

Team Awards

2nd Place, Team 924 (6-1-1)

And a big congratulations to team 925, who finished 4-3-1!

Concession Stand

Allie — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:24:00 +0000

The Mock Trial Association's Boston College Concession stand was, in the words of Kelly Kanavy, "fully operational" on October 13, 2007. All members of the team gave up some valuable sleep to come out and work that football Saturday--it was well worth it, seeing as we made a substantial profit and got a chance to hone our marketing skills! In other news, two teams will be travelling to Columbus, Ohio, a week from this Friday in order to compete at Ohio State University. The best of luck to both teams--Go Irish!

A New Beginning....

Allie — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Today marks the beginning of a total "revamp" of the Notre Dame Mock Trial website---stay tuned for some exciting changes!

Allie — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:57:00 +0000

The season is officially underway with the first class of the season! The whole team met for the first time in 125 Debartolo Hall for the weekly two hour class, with the topic of discussion being the 400 Rules. Everyone was on the ball and sharp as a tack--it looks as though it is going to be a promising year!

New Members

Allie — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 23:52:00 +0000

NDMT is happy to extend membership to twelve new students: Trey Griffith, Phil Langthorne, Cameron Shane, Tom Friel, Kayla Delgado, Olga Beltsar, Nicola Menchetti, Meredith Ragnay, Puja Parikh, Elizabeth Allison, Katherine Ledwidge, and Katherine Fitzpatrick. These twelve individuals round out the association to an even 34 members, or four separate teams. Notre Dame Mock Trial will be making its debut appearance at the Scarlet and Gray Invitational on October 27-28 at Ohio State University.

Mock Trial Attends Competition

Randy — Fri, 11 Apr 2003 01:09:00 +0000

The Observer: April 10, 2003
ANDREW THAGARD - News Writer

Two Notre Dame teams placed fourth and fifth in their division at the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) National Championship Tournament and three students received additional awards during the event, held April 3-6 in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Notre Dame program was the only one to have two teams place top five in either division and it received the most individual awards of any of the 64 teams present, according to William Dwyer, Mock Trial coach and an attorney with the O'Rourke, Hogan, Fowler and Dwyer law firm.

"We did remarkably well," Dwyer said. "It was quite an accomplishment."

Members of the two teams included Dave Belczyk and Mike Romano, club co-presidents, and Erika Jackson, Erin Blondel, Brenden Bowes, Brad Springman, Meghan McCall, Kristen Rodriguez, Vinnie Tenerelli, Jared Rizzi, Marlena Mangan, Katie Spitz, Leanor Cimino, Brandy Hutton and Brian Frey.

Mike Romano also received the All American Attorney and All-American Witness awards. Vinnie Tenerelli and Brian Frey received All-American Attorney awards as well.

Mock Trial allows college students to simulate court cases with team members serving as defense and prosecuting attorneys and witnesses. The AMTA holds tournaments across the nation with over 300 universities participating. All the teams in a particular division try the same case, either criminal or civil, and follow a series of established rules.

During the National Tournament, teams participated in a mock civil lawsuit brought by the parents of a seven year-old killed by a hit-and-run driver.

"The idea is you have to work within the framework of the case and the rules set up by the AMTA," Dwyer said. "They try to recreate a realistic environment in which the case is tried."

Dwyer and Romano described the atmosphere of the tournament as intense and said participants spend several hours each week practicing in addition to a two-hour class that focuses on form and legal knowledge.

"The students work enormously hard and there's a lot of stress involved," Dwyer said.

There are a total of 21 students in Notre Dame Mock Trial divided into three seven-person teams. All three teams qualified for the National Tournament but AMTA rules allow no more than two teams from each school to compete.

Romano credits the success of the organization to the talent of the members and the coach and said he anticipates the teams will do well next year.

"Next year we definitely want to maintain the program," he said. "This year we established ourselves by taking fourth and fifth in the tournament. I think we will be in a position to do very well next year."

"I think this is great for our program," echoed Dwyer. "It really shows the caliber of talent at Notre Dame."

Mock trial tournament draws more than 300 to courthouse

Randy — Thu, 23 Jan 2003 07:37:00 +0000

Daily Herald Reports
By Tony Gordon

The Lake County courthouse in Waukegan was the site of more activity this past weekend than it has seen on a Saturday and Sunday for quite some time.

More than 300 college students, coaches and parents filled courtrooms throughout the building for the Northwestern University Mock Trial Invitational Tournament.
Assistant State's Attorney Ari Fisz, who is also a coach of the team at Northwestern University in Evanston, said the tournament attracted 34 trial teams from 20 schools throughout the country.

The purpose of a mock trial is to give students a taste of what it is really like in a courtroom as they portray lawyers and witnesses presenting evidence in cases that are outlined for them in advance.

This past weekend, teams participated in four trials each and were graded on style, presentation, knowledge of the law and other criteria by lawyers and judges who volunteered for the event.

When all the points were added up, Notre Dame University of Notre Dame, Ind., was on top of the heap and court officials are hoping the tourney becomes an annual event here.

"I think it was just great that we were able to host the tournament and hope to see more in the future," Chief Judge Margaret Mullen said. "It is a fascinating way to let young people experience the law in a real setting, and we know how hard they work in preparing to put on their cases