CSU Mock Trial Team Competes at the Student Trial Advocacy Competition
- Lina Girgis
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
On the weekend of March 6, 2025, Cleveland State University College of Law Mock Trial Team competed in the Student Trial Advocacy Competition hosted by the American Association of Justice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The team was led by coaches Julian Emerson, of Reminger Co., and Jed Chedid, of Chedid & Co. and a CSU Mock Trial alumnus. The Plaintiff Team consisted of Jake Wrege, 3L, and Charlie Volz, 2L. The Defense Team consisted of myself, Lina Girgis, 3L, and Koby Adu-Poku, 3L. Our team of four was supported and strengthened by remaining team members Victoria Szep, 2L, John Swansinger, 2L, and John Ohliger, 2L.
Each pair of advocates were tasked with writing, memorizing and presenting a Motion in Limine, an opening statement, a direct examination of two witnesses, a Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, a cross-examination of two witnesses, and a closing argument. Additionally, each member was tasked with playing a witness when their teammates were advocating. Since the release of this case problem on January 21, 2025, I have watched my team of seven grind day and night, seven days a week. We have sacrificed time with family, time with friends, time to study for other courses, and sleep. As a result, we produced two incredibly strong cases for both the plaintiff and defense.
Each team enrolled in the competition competed in three initial qualifying rounds. During the first round of competition, Koby Adu-Poku and I faced William & Mary Law School, ending with a 14-point differential for the defense. During the second round, Jake Wrege and Charlie Volz faced Villanova University Law School; both advocates scored 9/10s across the board, and Jake Wrege presented a flawless, impromptu voir dire of the expert witness. In the third and final qualifying round, Koby and I faced University of Akron Law School. As a result, we won with an 8-point differential, receiving perfect scores on my opening statement, cross-examination and Koby’s closing argument.
After completing these qualifying rounds, and dominating in two, our team of four advanced to the Semi-Finals on the afternoon of Saturday, March 10, 2025. Due to the Semi-Finals power pairing structure, Cleveland State University’s eighth seed team was set to compete against the first seed team - Temple University, the school that hosted this competition. Jake Wrege and Charlie Volz went head-to-head with the competition's highest rated team in terms of win-loss record, number of ballots won, total point differentials, and total points.
This trial was an intense, high-stakes challenge, as it was Cleveland State University’s only opportunity to secure a spot in the finals and earn a chance to return to the national competition. At the end of trial, Cleveland State University’s last seed team beat Temple University’s first seed team by 5.5 points. Unfortunately, this win was taken from us because Temple University's team underestimated our talent and knowledge of the case problem. In a failed attempt to get Koby Adu-Poku, a witness during the trial, to admit to a statement that contradicted the case problem, Temple University made the swift decision to file an unsupported grievance against our team. After our coach advocated for our us, but without permitting any students to provide context to the situation or any remedy for appeal, the committee chose to reduce our score by 7.5 points – turning our celebratory win into a loss by two points.
Although this loss felt heavy, at the end of the day, my teammates beat the odds and there is no world in which I will allow their effort and talent to go unnoticed. I wish to congratulate all six of my teammates who put their lives on hold to prove Cleveland State University College of Law can compete at national levels every time. Serving as captain of the Mock Trial Team these past two years has been my biggest honor and accomplishment, and I thank my coaches, Julian and Jed, for trusting me with this responsibility. As we prepare to graduate, Koby, Jake and I wish the team all the best in the future; we will always be cheering from the sidelines.