Our Interview With Colin Abress, Assistant Mock Trial Coach of the Macalester Mock Trial Team

By the Juris Education Interview Team

Colin Abress is the Assistant Mock Trial Coach of the Macalester Mock Trial team.

1. What is the typical format(s) of a mock trial or moot court competition?

They vary, but the majority of my experience is with college/undergraduate (AMTA) mock trial. Mock trial cases in college and school usually alternate between criminal and civil cases every other year. Teams have a lot of room to build their own case theories with a closed universe of exhibits, witness choices, and other case materials. These often tend to emphasize creativity, theatricality, and general public speaking and advocacy skills rather than being faithful to real trials. Students get to portray attorneys or witnesses, give closing and opening statements, make objections, etc. 

Moot court typically involves arguing a legal issue at the appellate level. The topics are often intended to be relevant to present political or legal controversies and may involve issues where there is a federal circuit split. Each party gets a set amount of time to argue their side of the case while being interrupted with questions from the judging panel. These tend to be relatively similar to what actually occurs during real appellate arguments. 

2. What are some of the biggest takeaways or real-world benefits that students gain from participating in a mock trial or moot court competition?

No matter what type of public speaking activity you’re doing, it will inevitably benefit your confidence, ability to think critically on your feet, and other skills involved in developing and communicating coherent arguments. College and school mock trial tends to be really beneficial for team building and collaboration. 

For those who choose to go to law school, there’s also a networking element that might benefit you. The reality is that many students who do mock trial want to be lawyers, and so there is a high likelihood that you will run into them down the line at law school or in practice. I can say from my perspective, the connections I made competing in college mock trial absolutely benefited me down the road when I was looking for job and internship opportunities. 

3. What’s the most challenging and the most rewarding aspect of participating in such a competition?

For me, the greatest challenge and benefit are closely related. Public speaking never came naturally to me and I had a lot of nerves when I started. That’s probably also true for many others. But it involves the type of skills that will never develop without exposure, so participating has been extremely beneficial in that respect. 

The other rewarding aspect would have to be the collections that I have made and maintained through the activity. Especially if you live in a smaller legal community, participating in these activities is a good way to find people with similar interests and career goals, as well as network within the community you may end up working in. 

4. How do mock trials help students feel prepared for a career in law?

First, any experience developing public speaking and advocacy skills will benefit you. Most law schools have programs to help students develop their advocacy skills, so spending more time working on those skills prior to law school will give you a leg up. Being exposed to legal concepts also gives you some introduction to real-world law.

I will note that much of the substantive law students in mock trial or moot court competitions deal with is simplified, so make no mistake––it’s not going to substitute an actual legal education in any way. But there are elements that you learn about that can prime you for real legal education. For example, many mock trial programs use modified versions of the Federal Rules of Evidence that are nearly identical to the real rules. Learning these early can definitely be a benefit if you take an evidence class or end up being a litigator. And the critical thinking skills you learn by working with and applying those rules are similar to what you’ll have to do in law school. 

5. How can students make the most of a mock trial competition or program?

It might be cliche, but you really do get out what you put in. Taking the activity seriously is important, and those who do can reach really incredible heights in terms of their speaking skills. At the same time, it’s important to find a healthy balance between extracurriculars, school, and your personal life. An activity like this should not be completely bound up in your sense of self. 

But the best advice I can offer for being successful and improving in any speech, mock trial, and debate activity is this: I sincerely believe that anyone can be taught just about anything—except to take and learn from constructive criticism. You have to make the active and individual choice to want to learn before you can improve. So learn from your co-competitors and mentors!

6. What advice would you give to those who are trying to find the right mock trial competition for them?

Participating in any speech, mock trial, or debate activity is a fantastic choice that I unequivocally recommend to anyone. To decide on which, you have to weigh your own interests and what you want to get out of the activity. Moot court will give you experience writing and thinking about complex and salient legal issues. Mock trial focuses more on developing rhetorical techniques, using facts and arguments to create a compelling story, and applying these to legal concepts. As I said before, any of them will improve your speaking skills, but in my experience, mock trial tends to emphasize team building and camaraderie in a way not many other activities can.

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