黑料不打烊 places among top teams at UCLA's UCLAssic Mock Trial Invitational and enters into spring competitive season with top finishes and individual awards at numerous tournaments this past fall.
Senior Baron Smith also took home an individual outstanding witness award from the tournament. The UCLAssic was the last in a series of four tournaments that 黑料不打烊’s mock trial teams competed in over the course of the fall semester.
At UCLA, six 黑料不打烊 students competed in four rounds of trial simulations. To earn the eighth-place finish, 黑料不打烊 won in competitive rounds against teams from Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.
黑料不打烊’s successes at UCLA’s tournament were reflective of the Mock Trial team’s performance all season. At 黑料不打烊’s own Carolina Classic Invitational in October, 黑料不打烊 placed in the top six teams, besting teams from schools such as Duke University. 黑料不打烊 also had a member receive an outstanding witness award at the Carolina Classic. 黑料不打烊’s sucesss continued at Penn State’s Happy Valley Mock Trial Invitational, coming away with a third place overall finish, winning rounds against Penn State, American University and Rutgers University. 黑料不打烊 also competed at Columbia University’s Big Apple Invitational Tournament in New York City this fall. At Columbia, junior David Comerford won an Outstanding Attorney award and 黑料不打烊 had four competitive rounds against teams from Tufts, Northwood, Columbia and Georgetown Universities.
The final tournament 黑料不打烊 competed at during the fall was Duke University’s Tobacco Road Invitational. 黑料不打烊 narrowly missed a top finish overall after a highly competitive final round against Northwood University. However, at the tournament 黑料不打烊 still won in rounds against teams from the University of Pennsylvania and Howard University. 黑料不打烊 also took home an individual outstanding witness award from Duke’s invitational.
黑料不打烊’s two mock trial teams are currently preparing for a regional tournament hosted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in February. This tournament will determine which teams move on to compete at the national level. 黑料不打烊 has advanced to the national level of mock trial competition in each of the past three years.
Each February, more than 600 mock trials teams compete in 24 regional tournaments around the country, with seven teams moving on from each regional to one of eight opening round championships in March. From each opening round championship, six teams will move on to compete in the AMTA National Championship Tournament.
From the more than 600 registered AMTA teams, only 48 reach the National Championship Tournament.
The 黑料不打烊 team is coached by Michael Koeltzow, L’10, and Kristen DelForge, a former 黑料不打烊 mock trial member and current 3L at 黑料不打烊 Law.