Fall 2008 Try-Out Information

DOWNLOAD THE 2008 TRYOUT PACKET BY CLICKING HERE!

Activities Fair:

Come visit UVa Mock Trial members at the 2008 Activities Fair, from 10 AM to 2 PM on Monday, August 25 in the Amphitheater!

Information Sessions:

Informations Sessions will be held at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, August 27 in Cabell 138, and at 7:00 PM on Thursday, August 28 in Clark 108. Come to see a presentation from current UVa Mock Trial members, and learn more about the tryout process!

Tryouts require absolutely no prior experience with mock trial, law, or courtroom procedure. Individuals may try out to be both an attorney and a witness, and those interested are encouraged to do so.

For the role of attorney, individuals interested in trying out will deliver a short speech prosecuting or defending a character from a fairytale or children's story. Past examples have included prosecuting the Grinch for stealing Christmas, prosecuting Superman for indecent exposure for "revealing himself" while changing in a phone booth, and defending the witch from "Hansel and Gretel" on charges of cannibalism. You are encouraged to be creative and have fun.

Those interested in trying out for the role of witness will be asked to prepare a dramatic reading of a scripted direct examination of a past mock trial witness. The script, as well as relevant witness statements, will be provided.

Try-outs will take place on Saturday, August 30, Sunday, August 31, and Monday, August 1. Tryouts will take place at the following times:

 Saturday, August 30: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM

 Sunday, August 31: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM, 12:30 PM-8:00 PM

 Monday, September 1: 7:00 PM-10:00 PM

Sign-ups will be available at both Information Sessions, on a first come- first served basis. If you cannot make either of those dates, the signup sheet will be posted on the door of 40 East Lawn ` after the last information session. The exact place for tryouts is yet to be determined, and will be emailed to all prospective mockers as soon as possible.

What are we looking for?

Individuals who try-out and are accepted for UVa Mock Trial will ultimately compete as an attorney, a witness, or both. Consequently, anyone with an interest in acting or in the law is encouraged to try out. While no previous experience is necessary, we strongly encourage individuals to try out with any:

• Public speaking experience (.e.g., forensics, debate, Model UN, etc.)
• Interest in the law, especially trial law and courtroom procedure
• Any theatrical or acting experience

We have no age requirements, and encourage fourth-years to try out as much as first-years. In fact, in the past first-time, fourth-year mockers have been some of our most successful.

We are looking to fill some key positions for witnesses vacated by graduated students, and are therefore especially on the look out for those with acting experience. Please fill out the contact form at left if you have any interest in receiving more information regarding tryouts.

What's in it for you?

What can you get out of joining University of Virginia Collegiate Mock Trial? We're glad you asked. Mock trial will teach you how to:

Speak.
Sure, you've probably already participated in some sort of public speaking competition in high school. That's fine. Past and present members of UVa Mock Trial include state-champion forensics competitors in original oratory and extemporaneous speaking, award-winning debaters, a former Monticello guide, Model U.N. participants and a former president of the Virginia State Student Council Association. Trust us, until you've delivered a closing statement in a high pressure round in front of a federal judge, or fought your way through a five minute objection battle against an All-American attorney, or had to change your cross examination on-the-fly because the witness started inventing facts artfully enough that you can't quite impeach, you only think you know how to speak.

Argue.
A good mock trial objection fight is like an intellectual boxing match, and unless you want to be knocked out first you've got to know the federal rules of evidence like the back of your hand, inside, outside, and upside-down until you know which argument your competitor is going to use next before he does, and you've already thought of three different ways to counter it.

Think.
Mock trial isn't checkers, it's chess, and that means it has a near-countless number of moving pieces that you've got to keep track of if you want to win. From permutations in witness line ups, to working through how your team's theory of the case stacks up against other theories, to anticipating what evidence might be introduced when, your brain has to be firing on all cylinders – and occasionally fire on cylinders you didn't even know you had.

Persuade.
At the end of the day, a team wins a mock trial round because two judges they've never seen before decide they like the product they're selling better than the other team's. You've got a five minute opening, a nine minute closing, and twenty-five minutes of direct testimony to convince a lawyer, judge, or coach who's seen a lot more trials than you that your side is right. Like most things in life, winning in a courtroom can be as much about presentation as content, and mock trial will teach how to master both: everything from which gestures are most effective and which words have the most psychological impact on the listener to how to balance assertiveness as a zealous representative of your client with deference to the court. It's like marketing and business communication rolled into one, and you've got the best seat in the class.

Of course, competing for UVa Mock Trial doesn't just give you skills. You'll also get:

Chinese Food.
Most of us have this weird fantasy of living out that scene from "A Few Good Men" where Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Kevin Pollack all eat Chinese food and talk about how to win their case. So, you'll be eating plenty of Chinese food. We just thought you should know up front.

Camaraderie.
Sure, you make friends doing any extracurricular activity. But trust us when we say mock trial is different. A mock trial team consists of only 6-8 people, and you'll be seeing those people more often than it makes sense to estimate: at practice, at tournaments, and at every conceivable event in between. It's not an exaggeration to say that mock trial is inherently addictive, meaning that, if you let it, it quickly becomes a lifestyle more than another extracurricular. Some of your best friends will be on your mock trial team. Trust us, we know.

Travel.
UVa Mock Trial competes at about six different tournaments every year. Over the past two seasons, we've traveled to Tennessee, Washington D.C., New York City, Florida, and North Carolina for mock trial competitions. This year promises return trips to D.C., as well as a trip down to Louisville, KY, and maybe Los Angeles, too.

Hardware.
Don't think that just because it's your first year doing mock trial you won't be successful. The 2006 - 2007 season was UVa Mock Trial's most successful to date, with the program winning six tournaments (including the National Championship for the second year in a row) and no team ever finishing lower than seventh. Even though UVa Mock Trial wasn't able to accomplish an unprecedented three-peat, the program still took home three tournament championships and consistent top five finishes. Last year UVa Mockers also took home sixteen individual awards, given to the top competitors at each tournament. So dust off some shelf space. You'll probably need it.