Over the past four years, Mock Trial has gained in popularity and today, the team has 50 members. 

Because of the number of members, Mount Pisgah will have two teams competing this season.

In the competition “Students undertake the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a court case. Professional attorneys and judges serve as the presiding judges and evaluators in competition rounds. Teams are evaluated on their ability to make a logical, cohesive and persuasive presentation, rather than on the legal merits of the case,” according to the State Bar of Georgia.

These cases are overseen by an actual judge and local attorneys and Mount Pisgah’s teams will be competing against other high schools in Georgia. Each year the case being presented alternates between a civil and criminal case. This year the team will be arguing a civil case. 

The club’s sponsor, Lucas Bryant, has already begun preparing students for the competition in the spring.

“In the beginning of the season, students spend most of their time developing their theory and line of questioning, and as the season progresses, they fine tune their lines of questioning and prepare for competitions,” states Bryant.

Each competition consists of four rounds, alternating between the plaintiff and defense attorneys and witnesses. Each team will provide three witnesses per round. Each witness requires a direct examination, done by an attorney on the same team, and a cross-examination, done by the opposing team’s attorney. 

The attorneys not only are responsible for their examinations but also need to be confident in the objection rules to effectively object to the other team attorneys when needed. 

Throughout the rounds, the judges will score the attorneys and witnesses based on their performances on a 10-point scale. 

Just like with sports, the Mock Trial starts by competing in regional competitions. The top team from each region will advance to the district competitions. The top two teams will then move on to the state finals to have a chance to compete for the State Championship.

Senior Co-Captain Sam Adelman has high hopes for this season of Mock Trial.

“We have many veterans on the team and many underclassmen we are ready to mentor,” said Adelman. 

Bryant believes that the teams can make it far in the competition this year, with hopes of making it to the National Championship.