2024-2025 Mock Trial News
October 28, 2024 | Success at NTAC
In October, SMU’s NTAC mock trial team competed in Detroit against 16 teams from across the country. SMU’s NTAC team decisively won all three of their preliminary rounds, winning 8 of 9 ballots, a record matched by only one other team. One student, Branson Cook, even received a perfect score from all three judges for his closing argument during one preliminary round. SMU ultimately succeeded in reaching the semifinal stage of the NTAC competition, facing repeat champions Harvard in a closely fought round resulting in a 3-2 split between 5 judges. SMU’s 2024 NTAC team proudly continued SMU’s history of success in Detroit and is ready to build on this success in 2025!
October 7, 2024 | Mock Trial Team Wins Best Witness (times four!)
Coach Jay Spring ('20) returned from the 2024 Buffalo-Niagara Trial Competition and reports: "Our students represented the school extremely well, and ended up in a four-way tie for first place (with each other) for the individual speaking award for Best Witness. We were highly competitive in other individual speaking award categories.
Ultimately, we ended up just shy of breaking. The competition broke from 24 teams in prelims directly to 4 teams in semifinals, so it was an uphill battle, and we ended up facing two of the teams that advanced in prelims. Nonetheless, they did exceptional work.
Josephine Nwaogu and Caden Day, in particular, posted some of the most exceptional scores that I have seen from first semester advocates, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that."
September 18, 2024 | SMU Team Semi-Finalists in Unique Voir Dire Competition
SMU students competed in a one-of-a-kind competition in Houston, TX September 12th-15th, selecting not one but five juries over the course of the weekend. To boot, teammates Madeleine Hanna (2L) and Chase Tidmore (3L) made it to the semi-finals, judged by retired judge Caroline Baker. Congratulations to the team, including alternate Ju Zhao (2L), and coaches Courtney Floyd Sines, Lili Nelson, and Catherine Schneider.