After a season of unprecedented success, the Brandeis University Mock Trial Association will head to Easton, Pennsylvania next week to participate in an Opening Round Championship Site tournament. Finishing in the top six teams in Easton will allow the Brandeis team to compete in the National Championship Tournament in Iowa.

Last year was the first year Brandeis qualified two teams to the National Championship Tournament.

“Every year, we’re getting more and more successful,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick ’09, vice president of the Brandeis Mock Trial Association. “We’re making a name for ourselves on the national circuit.”

Reichlin-Melnick explained that during a competition, usually a two-day affair, there are a total of four rounds. Each round consists of three attorneys and three witnesses from one team arguing against the attorneys and witnesses of another team. Two judges score the round, grading each performance on a scale of one to ten on a scoring ballot. The team with the most points at the end of the round wins that judge’s ballot. Over a tournament, a team has a chance to win up to eight ballots; the number of ballots won determines if that team places in the top teams at the tournament.

Brandeis earned the right to send two teams to Easton based on its performance at regional competitions. Brandeis qualified one team each at Yale University’s regional and at Roger Williams University’s regional by finishing in the top eight at both tournaments.

Mock trial team members also won several individual awards at regionals. Julia Simon-Mishel ’09, Rachel Graham Kagan ’09, and Matthew Kipnis ’11 all won awards for their performance as attorneys. Liz Macedo ’10, Michelle Faits ’10, and Brian Boyd ’12 won witness awards.

The regional competitions followed a season of invitationals. Invitational tournaments are held at universities in the region – one was held at Brandeis in the fall. This semester, Brandeis placed at least one team at every invitational it attended, and racked up nearly thirty individual awards for its members. Brandeis also won its very first tournament, at Yale University’s invitational, this fall.

“The hardest thing about mock trial is the subjectivity,” Reichlin-Melnick said. “Some judges might love what you’re doing while others hate it.”

Reichlin-Melnick originally showed interest in mock trial when he started competing during his freshman year of high school. With eight years of experience, he considers law school as an option after completing his undergraduate degree at Brandeis.For him, being a part of Brandeis Mock Trial plays into his interest in law. “It really helps. It teaches you public speaking and confidence. It’s a great experience being in a courtroom.”

Hannelore Sklar ’10, captain of one of the qualifying mock trial teams, agreed. Like Reichlin-Melnick, Sklar had experience with mock trial in high school and plans to pursue a career in law after graduating from Brandeis.

“It’s more exhilarating than nerve-racking,” Sklar said. “It shakes people sometimes – not expecting what happens next.”

A part of the team’s excitement comes from the case that it has to argue during competitions. The American Mock Trial Association writes and compiles the case to be used all year. The case includes witness testimony as well as evidence, and a copy of the relevant laws to be used in trial. This year’s civil case involves a gubernatorial candidate who sued an entertainment news network after it accused the candidate of murder. The victim’s death was ruled a suicide by the police.

Members of a mock trial team will play either the role of an attorney or witness.

“Being the witness and the attorney are both equally fun,” Reichlin-Melnick said. “The witness is more of an actor and the attorney tries to uses the witness as bait.”

Due to the unpredictability of a trial, Reichlin-Melnick said preparation is tricky.

“There [are] a lot of variables involved, so you never know what the other team will do,” Reichlin-Melnick said. “You could spend so much time preparing for something that might not even come up during the trial.”

According to Rachel Graham Kagan ’09, secretary of Brandeis Mock Trial and captain of one of the qualifying teams, each team is led by a captain who best suits the team’s needs. “[Captains are chosen] based off of experience and who is best for the team in terms of working with people. Captains are like good teachers,” she said.

Kagan herself competed in six tournaments this year: Iowa’s Marcus Pohlmann Invitational, Brandeis, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, and the regional tournament at Roger Williams.

She said sharing the success with her teammates is gratifying.

“It feels kind of like a whirlwind in terms of how successful we’ve been, but at the same time I also think we really deserve it,” Kagan said. “We’ve worked so hard, given up so many hours of [the] week, and so many complete weekends to this club that it’s really nice to feel like that’s paid off. My team, and really the club as a whole, became like a family. You’re just so glad when anyone succeeds.”

The Brandeis Mock Trial team is just one of this university’s seven competitive teams with open doors to anyone interested. Try-outs are held during the fall. Reichlin-Melnick said the mock trial team is looking for new students to join regardless of their academic interests. “There’s no one type of personality [required for mock trial]. We have out-going people, shy people, science people and liberal arts people.”