Mock Trial Team Scores Victory at Nationals

Living up to their label of “Team Courageous,” seven members of the Harvard Mock Trial team defeated the competition at the National Intercollegiate Mock Trial Tournament in Richmond, Ky. this past weekend and managed to score Harvard’s first victory in a national tournament.

Team Courageous hauled home an immense trophy to attest to their first place finish out of nearly 50 teams and their qualification for the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) national championship, which will be held in Des Moines, Iowa during the weekend of April 9-10.

They will join Harvard’s Team Outrageous, which also qualified for the event after a first place finish at this year’s regionals, held in Worcester, Mass.

Harvard’s third team, Team Contagious, comprised primarily of freshman, has not yet caught the winning bug.

Team Courageous, captained by Kees A. Vandenberg ’06, competed in four rounds, each lasting three hours, before moving on to the final round, where they took down the previously undefeated University of Iowa.

“We were very personable, and got along really well with the other teams,” said Vandenberg of his team’s performance. “After each round, they all walked away smiling.”

And so did Team Courageous.

Allison C. Keavey ’07, another member of Harvard’s team, won an award for Best Witness with her performance as a woman from New York with a Bronx accent. Additional awards went to Daniel L. Goodkin ’06 for Best Witness, and Talia Kraemer ’06 for Best Attorney.

Goodkin attributed the team’s success to their ability to improvise. “A lot of the teams have coaching to the last detail. We’re less drilled, but we have more natural talent,” he said.

And their talent was also recognized by others. Todd Pappasergi, the president of the University of Pittsburgh team, praised Harvard’s performance in a congratulatory e-mail.

“In four years of competing in mock trial at the collegiate level, your squad was not only the most competitive, polished, and knowledgeable team that I had ever faced, but also exhibited the ideals of the Spirit of AMTA to the highest degree possible,” he wrote, referring to the association responsible for organizing the tournaments.

At the beginning of each year, the AMTA decides on the case that will be debated, alternating between civil and criminal cases every year.

This year, the case was Kissner vs. Polk Hospital, a fictional case involving a mentally ill teacher who attacks two teenagers and is then sent to an institution. Soon after his release, the teacher attacks a golf player, who then sues the mental hospital for negligence.

Members of the team have been preparing to stage the courtroom scene since September. Coached by two third-year students at Harvard Law School, Clifford Sarkin and Mushtaq Z. Gunja, the team has met at least three times a week to memorize the affidavits, relevant laws, and other details associated with the case.

The team also has an unofficial mentor, Jerome P. Facher, an attorney with Hale and Dorr LLP, who was the basis for Robert Duvall’s character in the movie A Civil Action.

In addition to their coach’s guidance, Team Courageous plans to review comments and suggestions they received from the judges of the Kentucky tournament to guide their future strategy.

“I feel better going into Des Moines this year. I think we’re going to do even better,” said Vandenberg. “This is the year of the Red Sox, the Patriots, and Harvard Mock Trial.”