The MLEC Law Studies team participated in the Miami-Dade County Mock Trial competition. The competition took place on February 23 and 24, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami. The Mock Trial competition is an annual competition held between high schools in Miami-Dade County Florida districts with the goal of sending the most professional and talented teams to the state competitions.
The Mock Trial team at MLEC is led by Ms. Daniel with assistance from Ms. Luces and attorney Jeff James. MLEC participated in the virtual Mock Trial last school year and had a courtroom built here by principal Mr. Fernandez after he witnessed their performance in the trial.
The Mock Trial team comes from the Law Studies elective class here, which is available to all students at MLEC. MLEC’s Mock Trial team consists of students from all grade levels. The team practices procedures of a real life trial and implements what they have learned into the rules of the competition. Throughout the course, students will further their public speaking skills, gain a more intensive work ethic and get closer to the individuals around them.
“Mock Trial is an immersive learning experience where we gain the qualities of what it takes to be an attorney, witness or any position of a real life trial. Throughout the course of learning what it is and actually being there, I got to be in an environment of serious decision making and public speaking,” stated senior Mateo Padron.
During the first day, the prosecution teams get one trial attempt against a competing school and then the defense teams get a chance to plead their case against another competing school. For these trials, the attorneys and witnesses’ professionalism, procedures and etiquette are crucial for points because the competition is run by a scoring system. The competition is judged by acting or former attorneys and members of the court. This gives them the expertise to precisely judge if the procedure was done correctly. At the end of each trial, judges critique both schools on their performance.
On the first day of competition, the Mock Trial team won both of their trials against competing schools such as Miami High School. On the second day, MLEC’s Mock Trial team performed at a higher level using the critiques the judges provided. Overall, combined between the prosecution and defense team, MLEC’s Mock Trial team got a total of 3 out of 4 wins. Although the team did not meet the requirements to make the top 4 they went further than anyone expected.
“The experience was one of a kind and it was a lot of time and dedication put into practice. It actually made my love of law deeper and gave me a better understanding of it,” said junior Ryana Stokes.
” I was full of nerves. It was like a tense feeling the whole bus ride, but the adrenaline rush you get when you go up is worth everything. We learned so much and I can’t wait to take all we learned and take that win next year,” added junior Yaila Garcia.
Although the team came short on the competition, they exceeded the expectations of everyone and proved that hard work and dedication is everything. The team now has another year to prepare and improve on their skills for the next competition.
