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When most students left campus for the holidays on Nov. 18, Hamilton’s Mock Trial teams suited up for a tournament at Cornell University (Nov 19-20). Among the competition were teams from some of the best mock trial programs in the Northeast region including the Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Columbia University, and Rutgers University.

While many students spent the Halloween weekend dressing up in costumes, Hamilton’s Mock Trial team spent the weekend in suits at the University of Rochester’s 9th annual “Yellowjacket Invitational.” Hamilton’s team has won this tournament for the past three years, and continued the streak this weekend. Hamilton’s two teams swept away the competition yet again, placing first and second at the tournament.

At Haverford College’s “Black Squirrel Invitational,” on Oct. 22-23, Hamilton Mock Trial celebrated a number of firsts: the first tournament of the year, the first competition for new members (Bryce Murdick ’20, and Michael Wang ’19), and the first tournament where Hamilton’s Mock Trial program competed with two teams.

While many students spent their spring breaks travelling or relaxing at home, Hamilton’s Mock Trial team competed at the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS) tournament (March 18-20) in Lancaster, Pa. ORCS is the final qualifier tournament before the National Championship Tournament (NCT), so the team faced its toughest competition of the season. 

There’s just no one answer to the question: “What are Hamilton students doing over spring break?”

Hamilton’s Mock Trial team competed last weekend (Feb. 5-7) at a regional competition, held at Pennsylvania State University. This competition determined whether the team would advance to the next level of bracketed competition, the Opening Round Championship (ORCs).

After driving nearly nine hours to Ada, Ohio, Hamilton College’s Mock Trial Team took 2nd place at the Jan. 16-17 10th Annual Polar Bear Invitational at Ohio Northern University.  In addition to the impressive team performance,  Rachel Dawson ’19, Patrick McConnell ’19 and Conor O’Shea ’18 took home individual awards.

Although winter break  is underway, Hamilton’s  Mock Trial team is not slowing down. Team members will individually be rewriting the bulk of their scripts, memorizing and studying case law and rules of evidence during break. In addition, team members will return from break one week early to practice as a team and prepare for a tournament at the Ohio Northern University before the spring semester starts (Jan 15-18).  All of this preparation leads up to the Regional Tournament (Feb 5-7) at Pennsylvania State College.

Hamilton’s Mock Trial team competed at Yale University’s Invitational tournament  on Dec. 4-6. Unlike many tournaments, Yale’s divides teams into upper and lower divisions. For the first time in Hamilton’s history, the Mock Trial team competed in the upper division alongside other nationally ranked teams such as Harvard (last year’s national champions), Yale (last year’s 2nd place team at nationals), and New York University (ranked fourth in the nation).

Hamilton’s student-run Mock Trial team took home the 1st place trophy from the University of Rochester’s “Yellow Jacket Invitational”  held on Nov. 6-8. This is the third year in a row that the team has won this tournament. In addition, two of Hamilton’s attorneys (Silvia Radulescu ’17 and Andrew Fischer ’17) won Outstanding Attorney Awards, and one witness (Patrick McConnell ’19) won an Outstanding Witness Award. This means that the judges consistently ranked each student as being one of the best attorneys or witnesses in their trials.