Tufts Mock Trial last weekend emerged successfully from the Regional Mock Trial Tournament in Worcester, Mass., earning spots at the American Mock Trial Association's Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS) and a chance at the national tournament.
Tufts' A- and B-teams beat out teams from Harvard University, Boston University, Columbia University and the University of New Hampshire to win fourth and third place, respectively, earning them bids to proceed to the opening-round series this weekend at Pace University Law School in White Plains, N.Y..
Six of the 24 teams from across the Northeast that compete at the opening-round series will move on to the national tournament, according to Jonathan Lautin, a co-captain of Tufts Mock Trial's A-team.
Lautin added that while winning the bids that allow the two Tufts teams to advance to ORCS is an accomplishment in itself, the teams face harsh competition this weekend at the qualifying tournament.
"When it comes to bids, most programs only get zero or one, though we have maybe the most difficult ORCS in the country," Lautin said.
"The best schools in New England will be there," Lautin said.
The team's success last week marks the fourth consecutive year that Tufts has progressed to the opening series, according to Lautin.
"Every year we get better and better. Last year we made it to Nationals for the first time, and we're better this year than we were last year," Lautin said.
Lautin credited collaboration between the teams' freshmen and its more seasoned members with the group's accomplishment.
"Our program as a whole keeps getting stronger … We're able to bring in better first-years, and also our returning members have more experience, so they'll be better each year," Lautin said.
Freshmen on the A-team performed particularly well when they had to step in as witnesses for a team member who unexpectedly left the tournament, according to A-team co-captain Tomas Garcia, a junior.
"The fact that we did so well at the tournament even though they only had a week to learn their roles shows how flexible we are," Garcia said.
The teams will perfect the case they presented last weekend at the regional competition to meet the standards of the ORCS judges, Lautin said.
"We know the case really well," Lautin said. "What we're focusing on is polish, presentation and ways of convincing the judges with not just what we say, but with how we say it. That's really going to be the main crux. … At this point, every team we're going to face is going to know the case inside and out and they're not going to miss any arguments," Lautin said.
"Logically, every team is going to be as good as we are because we're facing the best teams in the country."
Each team will present the same case to judges both as prosecution and defense. The case this year focuses on product liability, Lautin said.
"We're also looking for ways to innovate," Garcia said. "Tufts Mock Trial prides itself on approaching situations in an unorthodox manner."
B-team co-captain Alexander Baskin, a sophomore, was impressed with the team's performance last week.
"It really speaks a lot to the depth of our program," he said. "We have lots of really individually talented people, but it's not just concentrated in a select few — it's really spread out. The team is extraordinary — everyone is just incredibly talented. There's no one that's not pulling their weight."
Tufts' mock trial program has seen an overall improvement since last year, Baskin said, noting that that last year only one team moved on to ORCS.
"We really think we should have a pretty good shot at this, and it's really exciting also that we have two teams going to ORCS this year," he said.
Baskin was optimistic about the team's chances at championships.
"Everyone's proven themselves. It's going to be some really heavy competition, but we're working day and night on this," he said.
"We're going to just give it all we got," Baskin said. "I'm really humbled to be working amongst people who are so talented and so hard-working."
