For the first time in 15 years, the St. Thomas mock trial team earned one of the 48 coveted spots at the 2019 National Championship Tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 4-7. Nick Simek, Quinn Schoenfelder, Kate Dolan, Kyla Krohn, Katie Van Sistine, Dylan Thorson and Jack Thram composed the team competing for the winning trophy.

The team conquered the regional tournament and the championship round, where they were waitlisted after tying three other teams. Finishing at the top of the 120 waitlisted teams vying for three remaining spots at Nationals, the St. Thomas team clinched its place in the National Championship bracket.

Since receiving the information about going to Nationals, the team practiced every day for two to three hours as a team, not including the additional time each individual spent studying the case.

During the season, every collegiate mock trial team in the country receives the same case to work with all year, but teams that make it to the National Tournament receive a brand new case with only three weeks to prepare for any contingency in the courtroom.

“It is very brutal,” senior co-captain Nick Simek said. “Every team in the country is in the same position, so nobody got the Nationals case early, which is supposed to be the equalizer.”

To prepare for a trial, the team must construct opening and closing statements, call witnesses and cross examine the opposing team’s witnesses, and present the rules of evidence for both the defense and plaintiff sides of the case.

They receive some help from their adviser, political science professor Caleb Goltz. Two team coaches from the professional field also help guide the team and give feedback about how to conduct the trial.

During regular season invitationals, the St. Thomas team often received praise for their professionalism and composure.

“I’ve heard from even just practicing attorneys right now that the way we conduct ourselves in mock trial is actually more professional and better presented than real-life attorneys that they’ve seen,” junior Kate Dolan said.

While mock trial is the competitive branch of the Pre-Law Society, anyone who is interested and committed can join mock trial regardless of major. Most members of the team are political science majors and on a pre-law track, but there are also members who are majoring in economics, marketing, accounting, and communication and journalism.

Political science major and legal studies minor Dolan came to St. Thomas pursuing a pre-med track with the intention of becoming a surgeon, but was deterred after a semester.

“Mock trial was actually what made me decide that I wanted to be pre-law,” Dolan said. “I actually hope to be a judge, so I want to work either as a prosecutor, public defender, or private defender…so that when I get that opportunity to become a judge, I will have that solidified knowledge of the rules of evidence and courtroom procedure and things like that.”

A political science and philosophy major and legal studies minor, Simek gained valuable skills through competition.

“Mock trial team has really helped me develop my public speaking skills…(and) it really helps you think on your feet because when you’re in a courtroom during a particular round, you never actually know what will come at you,” Simek said.

As a graduating senior and future law student, Simek hopes that his team’s success will encourage others to join mock trial.

“It’s been just an amazing experience, and I would far and away say the best decision I ever made was to join the mock trial team,” Simek said.

Update: Although the team did not place at Nationals, the team competed well and was proud to finish the season participating at such a high level of competition.

“We were extremely happy to be in Philadelphia with some of the best teams in the country and are incredibly thankful that we had the opportunity to compete amongst them,” Simek said.

Tina O’Malley can be reached at omal4989@stthomas.edu.