Mock Trial team looks to build upon success at future competitions

For the first time, Lehigh’s Mock Trial team has made it past regional level competitions and is now preparing for the Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS), the weekend of March 19. 

The team was founded five years ago and last year was the first time they got a bid to ORCS, however, the competition was cancelled due to COVID-19. 

There are two teams, Team A, which they call Team Dunkin’, and Team B, which they call Team Saxbys. 

This year, Team Dunkin was given a bid to ORCS.

“Dunkin came in eighth and you have to come in sixth to get a bid,” said Zoe Topaz, ’21, team captain. “They do this thing where they take all the teams that didn’t get bids at regionals and then rank them. There’s 650 teams and we were ranked 14 on the open bid list and they took 29 off the open bid list.”

There are three rounds of competition starting with regionals, ORCS and then nationals. Within the competition, there are four total rounds. Each team competes in two plaintiff and two defense sides. The judges then score by ranking each separate part of the case from on a scale of 0-10. 

Lehigh’s Mock Trial team is led by an executive board made of Topaz, Nicolas Catanzaro, ‘21; and Ryan Bailey, ‘21. They also have two coaches, Rory Driscole and Abigail Bellafatto, who are both local attorneys in the Bethlehem area. 

Although team Saxbys didn’t receive a bid for ORCS, they did receive an honorable mention. Kate Lyden, ‘23, on Team Saxbys, received a personal honorable mention as well. 

“I didn’t expect to get that award, especially being new to mock trial,” Lyden said. “I was very proud, especially because I want to be a lawyer, so I was happy to know I was good at it.” 

Lyden said she has no previous experience with mock trial and didn’t even know it existed until she got to Lehigh. 

Due to COVID-19, competitions and practices have been held virtually. 

Topaz said she was in charge of recruiting new members for this year. Despite not being able to meet in person, 10 of the 18 students who competed in the regional competition were new members. 

“I was nervous with everything (being) virtual and (with) COVID-19, it would be hard for freshmen to really find out what mock trial is, but when there was that virtual club fair, we had a few people come in and we got a few really awesome people to join,” Topaz said. 

Topaz said she is hopeful that with Lehigh easing on-campus restrictions, the team can try to meet in person in the near future.

Topaz has been part of the team since they were founded, and said they have improved every single year. 

“We started by winning nothing the first year we competed and now we are moving on to ORCS,” Topaz said.  

Raihan Alam, ‘23, a member of Team Dunkin, said Lehigh was previously unranked, but the caliber of the team has increased over time. He said he is excited to see the team continue to grow and turn into a serious program in the coming years.

Alam participated in mock trial in high school and said the experience has benefited multiple aspects of his life. 

“Mock trial has helped me with my public speaking and I think that just helps with everything, like you just feel more confident in any presentation you’re given,” Alam said. 

Although Topaz will be graduating soon, she is still very excited about the future of the team. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the team can develop over time and the future of the team, and just knowing we are leaving it to some really great people to take over and continue the legacy of mock trial,” Topaz said. 

Lyden said she is looking forward to competing on the team for her remaining three years at Lehigh.  

“Being new to it I don’t really know what it’s like to (compete) in person so I’m really excited to get that opportunity in the future and solidify our team more,” Lyden said.