State’s high school mock trial competition set to begin today
Beginning this morning, 15 teams of Arkansas high school students will square off in mock trial competition at the Richard Sheppard Arnold U.S. District Courthouse in Little Rock to see which school will be crowned state champion to represent the state in national competition in May.
This year, Conway High School, which fielded championship teams in 2019, 2022 and 2023, hopes to duplicate its feat with a fourth championship and to make it three years in a row at the top of state competition.
Anthony McMullen, this year’s chairman of the Arkansas Bar Association Mock Trial Committee, said competition will take place over two days, today and Saturday, with each team competing in four rounds, at the end of which the two top teams will compete Saturday afternoon for the championship and the right to represent Arkansas at the national competition.
McMullen, who teaches business law at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, said he has been involved with the competition since 2005.
“The overall competition is a simulation of the trial process,” he said. “Every year we find a case for the students to work on. They get witness statements, they get exhibits, they get jury instructions and they get a few other legal documents. Then, it’s up to them to prepare as if it’s going to be an actual trial.”
McMullen said each team will argue both sides of the case, which this year is a fictional civil case involving a claim of wrongful death at a trampoline park.
“They’re going to be expected to perform both sides
of the case,” McMullen said.
In years past, he said, the competitions were divided between regional and state competitions, which were held at different times but he said this year the decision was made to follow the formula of the national competition, which adheres to a more compact, single-weekend competition schedule.
“That’s a formula we’ve used in the past and it seems the students appreciate being able to knock it all out in one weekend and get to try the case four times,” he said. “It is definitely a lot of work to put together and try the cases and only get to do it twice.”
For the championship round, which is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Chief Arkansas State Supreme Court Justice John Dan Kemp will serve as the presiding judge over the case. Scoring the championship round will be Arkansas Bar President Margaret Dobson, President-Elect Designee Jamie Huffman Jones, and former Mock Trial Committee Co-Chair Adrienne Griffis. A rotating roster of 52 area attorneys have been selected to score the preliminary rounds of competition.
“This year’s case is a wrongful death case involving a teenager that was injured at a trampoline park,” McMullen said. “In addition to whether there was negligence in the case itself, there’s also a situation where the parent of the child signed a waiver, so in addition to proving negligence, the students will have to find a way to get around the waiver. Each team will argue both the plaintiff’s side of the case and the defendant’s side.”
Those interested in reading the fictional case to be presented at this year’s Arkansas Mock Trial Championship may find it at this link.
McMullen said the Little Rock federal courthouse location was selected for the state championships this year after last year’s National Mock Trial Championship, which featured several rounds of competition, including the final competition for the national championship, at the federal courthouse.
“They were a great host and they were pretty excited to host part of the national competition,” he said.
Jordan Tinsley, a local attorney who organized the national mock trial competition that was held last year in Little Rock, said he has been involved as a competitor, an attorney coach, and as a tournament organizer at the state level, “and this last year at the national level.”
Last May, 47 teams from 44 states, the Northern Mariana Islands and South Korea converged on the capital city for the National Mock Trial Association Championship, the first time Arkansas had been host to the national competition. For that competition, as the host state, Arkansas fielded two teams; Conway High School and Springdale HarBer High School, which ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, at the 2023 state competition. In the national competition, Conway High School placed 33rd and Har-Ber High School placed 40th.
Tinsley said there are numerous benefits to those involved in the competition, regardless of whether they intend to pursue a legal career or have their eyes set on another field.
“The most important is it helps you to think critically,” Tinsley said. “But not just critically, it teaches you to think strategically as well. It also gives you the opportunity to flex some advocacy muscles for anyone who plans to embark on a public speaking career … and it also helps incorporate something of a thespian or theatrical role because you have folks playing witnesses.”
Tinsley said he has heard from a number of communications teachers around the state who appreciate the variety of skills that come into play in mock trial competition.
“It forces their debate students and their drama students to work together in fun environment,” he said. “It puts those two groups together to incorporate their skills … to put together a presentation.”
The winner of this weekend’s state mock trial competition will represent the state at the National Mock Trial Championship, which is scheduled to take place May 2-4 in Wilmington, Del.