Lafayette College Mock Trial

Lafayette had an amazing performance at the DC ORCs this year! Improving on their record last year, Team 1262 finished with a record of 5-3 after facing some difficult competition. Unfortunately the team did not move on to the National Round. Caroline Lang received an Outstanding Attorney Award. The team is looking forward to a new case and an exciting season next year!

The Lafayette Mock Trial team would like to wish a happy and healthy retirement for our Administrative Assistant and Team Mom, Carmela Karns.  Carmela has been an integral part of the Mock Trial program for the last 10 years.  Through those years, Carmela has taken care of the day to day tasks of taking care of our team.  However, Carmela has been more than just a logistics coordinator for the team; she has been a support system for us, and has always been one of our biggest cheerleaders through thick and thin.

Carmela will be sorely missed at Lafayette.  While Carmela will be spending her next chapter of her life in Florida spending time with her grandchildren, she will never be forgotten.  Best of luck with your future endeavors Carmela!

Both Lafayette teams provided a great showing at the Easton Regional Mock Trial Tournament. Team 1262 ended up with a record of 7-1 with 4 individual awards (Caroline Lang ’13 with an Outstanding Attorney and Witness award, Sam Griffith ’13 with an Outstanding Attorney award, and Chris Regnier ’15 with an Outstanding Witness award). Team 1263 ended up with a record of 2-6 after facing several tough opponents. Team 1262 is heading to the Opening Round Championship Round in Washington DC March 17-18.

Teams 1262 and 1263

Lafayette Team 1262 headed to Georgetown on 1/28/12-1/29/12 for once last chance to compete before the Regional Competition. After facing some difficult competition, Lafayette finished with a 4-3-1 record. Each team member was ranked on at least one ballot throughout the weekend. Sam Griffith, a double attorney, walked away with her first Outstanding Attorney Award on the defense. The team is looking forward to competing again at Lafayette for their Regional.

Team 1263 traveled to Patrick Henry College on January 27th and 28th in Purcellville  Virginia for the “Boy, I wish we had one more chance to compete before Regionals!” tournament.  After a tough weekend of competition, team 1263 emerged with a respectable 3-5 record, with all attorneys and witnesses ranking in at least one round!  Andrew Chun was recognized as an outstanding attorney on the Defense.

Both Lafayette Mock Trial teams traveled to Penn State for the Fourth Annual Happy Valley Invitational on October 22 and 23, 2011. They faced some difficult competition with a field of 20 teams, including Georgetown, University of Pittsburgh, Cornell, Swarthmore, Drexel, University of Virginia and University of Delaware. Lafayette’s Team Veritas finished with a record 6-2 and a Fifth Place overall team ranking, and Team Aequitas with a 3-4-1 record. In addition to the Fifth Place finish, Caroline Lang and Nick Franchetti both received outstanding witness ranks. Alex Caballero was also recognized as an outstanding attorney.

Lafayette recently hosted a Regional Tournament and it was a huge success. Out of the 25 teams that attended the tournament, the first 8 teams qualified for the ORC National Tournament in Washington, DC. We came in 3rd Place! The winning teams were:

NYU – Team #1155
NYU – Team #1156
Lafayette College – Team #1001
Penn State University – Team #1514
Univ. of Pennsylvania – Team #1285
Fordham University-Lincoln Center – Team #1231
Penn State University – Team #1516
Seton Hall University – Team #1151

Three of our team members received individual awards. Caroline Lang won an Outstanding Attorney award after receiving a perfect score of 20. Jessica Youndt and Laquan Lightfoot each won an award for Outstanding Witness with scores of 18 out of a possible 20.

The members of Team 1001 are:
Caroline Lang ’13 (Caroline won an Outstanding Attorney award with a PERFECT score!)
Sam Griffith ’13
Andrew Chun ’12
Alex Caballero ’13
Nick Franchetti ’14
Jordan Close ’14
Laquan Lightfoot ’11

Joining the team for the ORC National Tournament in Washington, DC will be Jessica Youndt ’14 and Lauren Matturri ’14.

This weekend, Lafayette College is set to host the Easton Regional Mock Trial Tournament, sponsored by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA). They have asked us to host it, since we have the reputation of hosting one of the best competitions in the Northeast. The teams are assigned by AMTA to attend the regional tournaments. Lafayette College is one of twenty-four regional tournaments being held across the United States during the month of February. Eight teams from each competition will advance to “Nationals” in March, leading to the selection of forty-eight teams who will compete in the Championship tournament to be held in Des Moines, Iowa, April 15^th thru the 17^th. One of our teams made it to the Championship round last year.  The winner at that tournament was New York University, who defeated Harvard University in Memphis, Tennessee.

The teams attended the Quaker Classic Invitational at UPenn – November 12 and 13, 2010. This was arguably one of largest competitions Lafayette has attended, with a field of 52 teams. The high level of competition was great exposure for Lafayette. Team 1010 concluded the tournament with a record of 2-6-0. Team 1011 finished with a 3-4-1 record. Additionally, an outstanding attorney award was given to Caroline Lang (19 ranks).

The team at Nationals in Hamilton, OH with the 2nd Place Team Award

Our teams had a very successful 2009-2010 season. We went to tournaments at Penn State, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, St. John’s University, Pace University, Miami University of Ohio, and Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. Throughout the year we also scrimmaged with students from the University of Penn, Seton Hall and Drexel University.

One of our freshmen, Xiao Cui, won a Best Witness award at her first tournament at Penn State University!

At the invitational tournament at Cornell University, one of our teams placed 5th out of 26 teams in the tournament scoring an overall record of 5 wins and 3 losses. Some of their competitors included teams from Cornell, Harvard, University of Penn, University of Michigan, Penn State, Villanova, University of Rochester, Carnegie Mellon and Brandeis University. Carolyn Fast earned a Best Witness award on the defense.

The Regional Tournament was held at St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York, where both teams won bids to the Opening Round Championship (ORC) tournament. Both teams finished with a record of 4 wins, 2 losses, and 2 ties. Team 1010 finished in 8th place and Team 1011 finished in 9th place. They competed against 24 teams from schools such as Fordham, University of Penn, New York University, St. John’s University, and Columbia University. Laquan Lightfoot and Andrew Chun won Best Attorney awards and Adam Scheps, Carolyn Fast, and Andrei Koch won Best Witness Awards.

At the ORC Tournament at Miami University of Ohio, Team 1010 came in second place to win a bid to the Championship tournament in Memphis, TN.  At the ORC, Margi Schierberl won both Best Attorney and Best Witness awards

Oct. 23-24, 2010 – Penn State University

Nov. 12-13, 2010 – University of Pennsylvania

Dec. 4-5, 2010 – Temple University (Scrimmage)

Jan. 29-30 – Cornell University

Feb. 11-13 – Regional Tournament hosted by Lafayette College

Mid March (TBA) – Opening Round Championship (ORC)

Mid April (TBA) -  Championship Tournament

Lafayette College has been petitioned by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) to host the Regional Tournament this year and we have agreed. In the past we have hosted both the Regional Tournament and the Opening Round Championship (ORC) Tournament, as well as several invitational tournaments.  We have local attorneys and judges acting as judges for the tournament. We usually have 24 to 26 teams attending from various colleges and universities. Invitational tournaments are open to all institutions that have a Mock Trial team, on a first come, first serve basis. Once we have 26 teams registered, the tournament is closed. The attendees at the Regional tournament are appointed by AMTA. The top eight teams at the Regional tournaments win a bid to attend the ORC.  The top 6 teams from the ORCs, nation-wide qualify for the Championship Tournament.

The 2010-2011 Mock Trial Team. Alex Caballero received awards for Oustanding Attorney and Outstanding Witness.

Lafayette’s two mock trial teams traveled to Penn State University to compete in the 3^rd annual Happy Valley Invitational on Obtober 23 and 24, 2010. Lafayette faced 15 other teams from local schools. Those schools in attendance included Cornell University, Rutgers University, Syracuse University, Georgetown University, Drexel University, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and Penn State University. Lafayette team 1010 came away with a record of 4-3-1 while team 1011 followed close behind with a record of 4-4-0. Aside from these team rankings Lafayette was recognized individually through the outstanding attorney awards given to Caroline Lang (19 ranks) and Alex Caballero (18 ranks) and the outstanding witness awards given to Alex Caballero (18 ranks) and Nick Franchetti (16 ranks).