By Brian Tenzer, Partner
Each year, I enjoy participating in the Moot Court competition for law school students sponsored by Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad Center. This year, to get a different perspective, I also recently served as a “scoring juror” for the Broward County Florida High School Mock Trial Competition, featuring 30 students from five schools. Four judges and 14 attorneys also participated, providing a taste of “real” courtroom drama.
For those unfamiliar with these two competitions, moot courts involve appellate advocacy, while mock trials showcase trial advocacy. This year’s mock case was a search and seizure off school grounds during which the class valedictorian was charged with possession of illegal drugs. Student “lawyers” received the same set of facts and evidence from which to prepare arguments on both sides of the case and also serve as witnesses. This approach helps teach reasoning, critical thinking and debating skills, as well as introduce students to the field of law.
The competition was held in the Broward County Courthouse with actual judges overseeing the “trials.” We lawyers sat in the jury box; an interesting change of venue for us. Our role was not to declare a verdict, but to score teams on their use of the evidence, oral argument skills and ability to cross examine.
Let me tell you, I was impressed. It takes guts for high school students to argue law in front of a judge and professional lawyers. But the students were extraordinarily prepared and their presentations demonstrated admirable maturity and insight.
By the way, American Heritage won the competition for the second consecutive year. But I could see some very credible talent is gravitating toward the legal field.
And, that is not a moot point!
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