Confrontation. It is a foundational part of our experience as lawyers. As we all know, it’s embedded into the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and at the heart of our adversarial trial processes.
Lately, it seems like confrontation is an integral thread running not just through our profession, but also through just about everything around us. It’s seemingly become the norm in recent political culture. Expressing points of view has devolved into a blood sport dominated by excessive combativeness — calling a candidate a clown, a group of like-minded thugs planning a kidnapping, even Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is ravaging destruction and displacing millions of people. There is no telling what awfulness is coming next, right?
With so much conflict around us, sometimes we need a reminder to look around so we can also enjoy the rays of light shining through the cracks, breaching the darkness.
One of my favorite examples of the good that deserves our attention is the annual coming together of lawyers, judges, and high school students for the Michigan High School Mock Trial competition. Since 1982, and with the help and support of many volunteers and community sponsors, the Michigan Center for Civic Education has offered this platform enabling high school students to learn how to conduct both civil and criminal trials by actually presenting cases as plaintiffs and defendants, prosecutors and defense counsel, and witnesses.
With the support of the State Bar of Michigan Litigation Section and the Young Lawyers Section, the SBM Public Outreach and Education Committee, the Oakland County Bar Foundation, the Macomb County Bar Foundation, individual donors, and many, many volunteers, the 2022 High School Mock Trial competition included more than 30 teams from across the state, including students from Washtenaw, Ingham, Oakland, Kent, Macomb, and Wayne counties. These students took on a civil negligence trial scenario centering around consumer privacy rights and potential liability of phone manufacturers when security breaches occur.
In teams of eight, students jump in feet first, most often having to learn on the fly about how to approach the process of confrontation. Is it best to object multiple times to every opposing witness’s testimony or is it best to pick and choose moments for effectiveness? As witnesses, students quickly ascertain how to give good testimony and how to respond to cross-examination. They nimbly determine, round by round, what is most effective in presenting cases. Successful teams incorporate feedback from the scoring and presiding judges after each of their presentations — learning, improving, increasing their scores, and advancing further in the tournament. Along the way, students frequently learn that excessively aggressive behavior doesn’t pay off, but neither does sitting on your hands and never objecting to anything the other side is doing.
The experience is made even more true to life for participants because the program expanded to incorporate opportunities for student journalists and artists to use their skills in a trial setting.
Mock trial competitions give us an opportunity to plant a seed of inspiration in young people to pursue careers in the legal profession — and an opportunity for us to be inspired. In the recent state finals, one student gifted spectators with a moment to remember: While strenuously pursuing testimony, one student encouraged opposing counsel to take up their turn even though it would have been just as easy to say nothing and maintain an advantage borne from the other’s weakness. It was an inspiring display of integrity and character — and it catapulted this student’s team into the lead in a tight competition that either side arguably could have won.
These moments are also a great reminder of how important it is to guide and encourage the next generation of people seeking to advocate for justice. For us seasoned professionals, mock trial competitions are also an opportunity to learn new lessons from these novice competitors. They are our harbingers of hope for an ever-improving, inclusive, and respectful justice system.
And there is still more high school mock trial to come in May.
Michigan is lucky, for the first time ever, to host the National High School Mock Trial Championship from May 4-7 in Kalamazoo. The competition is virtual, but some volunteers and others will gather for receptions and related events. Visit https://miciviced.org to volunteer or provide other support for the programs sponsored by MCCE.
A special thanks to James Liggins of Warner Norcross and Judd, who is completing his longstanding term of service as co-coordinator of the Michigan High School Mock Trial; Christine Hekman, who serves as learning and events coordinator; and MCCE Executive Director Ellen Zwarensteyn, who brings these programs to our educational communities through her positive energy and hard work.