Top Row L-R: Michael Sean Wilson, Michael Wilson, Peyton Martin, Jack Myrick, Luke Bledsoe, Majid Shabbeer | Middle Row L-R: Roni Kane, Gordy Gwilt, Lucy Brock, Julia Pelletier, Rob Williams, Valerie Kramer, Priyanka John, Isha Jayadev, Nick Tran | Bottom Row L-R: Tess Klygis, Eleanor Mancina, Merin McCallum, Tiffany Crews, Emily Kopp, Erin Sharpe, Noor Khan, Shannon Schulte

The 2022-2023 Academic Year was one filled with accomplishments for the Michigan Mock Trial team who achieved success at every turn. Seven first place finishes, twelve Top Five finishes, and seventeen Top Ten finishes in competition, all culminated in a third place finish at the National Championship Tournament in Memphis, Tennessee in May.

Michigan Mock Trial is an entirely undergraduate student-led team of about two dozen students majoring in programs across the University who travel around the country to compete with other University teams in a full courtroom simulation. Teams must be prepared to argue both sides of a criminal or civil case and serve as both the attorneys and the witnesses. Teams produce opening and closing speeches, direct examinations, and cross examinations with students serving just as they would in a real criminal or civil trial. This year’s case, Ari Felder v. Koller-Campbell Air, centered around a fictional fatal plane crash. The spouse of the deceased passenger was suing the pilot’s company for negligence. Then, at the National Championship Tournament, teams have only a few days to prepare for a whole new case.

Black Squirrel Invitational in Pennsylvania | Back Row L-R: Michael Wilson, Jack Myrick, Peyton Martin, Rob Williams, Rishabh Ranjan | Bottom Row: Shannon Schulte, Noor Khan, Emily Kopp, Michaela Nam, Valerie Kramer

Outside of their already busy class schedule, students practice almost every day during the week before heading to tournaments on the weekends, driving to cities such as Washington D.C., New York City, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, making it back for classes on Monday. So much hard work is put in year round from all of these students and the department is thrilled that the team has been rewarded with so many accolades.

Back Row L-R: Jack Myrick, Nick Tran, Rob Williams, William Akis, Michael Sean Wilson, Majid Shabbeer | Middle Row L-R: Peyton Martin, Prisha Grover, Lucy Brock, Noor Khan, Roni Kane | Bottom Row L-R: Gordy Gwilt, Shannon Schulte, Isha Jayadev, Merin McCallum

Special congratulations go to the students who received individual awards throughout the year:

  • Luke Bledsoe: All-Region Witness, Outstanding Witness
  • Lucy Brock: All-Region Witness, 4x Outstanding Witness, Outstanding Attorney
  • Gordy Gwilt: All-American Attorney*, All-Nation Attorney, 5x Outstanding Attorney, Outstanding Witness
  • Priyanka John: Outstanding Attorney
  • Roni Kane: Outstanding Attorney
  • Noor Khan: All-Nation Attorney, 3x Outstanding Attorney
  • Emily Kopp: All-Nation Attorney, All-Region Attorney, 4x Outstanding Attorney
  • Eleanor Mancina: All-Region Attorney, Outstanding Witness
  • Rishabh Ranjan: All-Region Attorney, Outstanding Attorney
  • Majid Shabbeer: Outstanding Witness
  • Erin Sharpe: Outstanding Witness
  • Nick Tran: Outstanding Witness
  • Rob Williams: Outstanding Attorney
  • Michael Sean Wilson: All-American Witness*, All-American Attorney*, All-Region Witness, All-Region Attorney, 4x Outstanding Attorney, 2x Outstanding Witness
  • Michael Wilson: 2x Outstanding Witness

*All-American awards are the highest achievement a Mock Trial competitor can receive

In September, Michigan Mock Trial will start their busy schedules up again with their audition process to accept more underclassmen into their ranks. We are so excited to see what the 2023-2024 competition cycle has in store for them! To keep up with what they are doing and where they are going visit www.michiganmocktrial.com.