The 2009-2010 edition of the James Lewis Family Miami Mock Trial Program completed its fall season with an impressive third place finish at the Great American Mock Trial Invitational (GAMTI) tournament hosted by the University of Virginia in the nation’s capital November 21/22. Twenty-four nationally-ranked mock trial teams were invited; the field included seven previous national champions and a squad from nearly every top twenty-five program in the nation.
GAMTI is unique in mock trial competitions in that a total of 12 ballots are competed for in four rounds as rather than the traditional 2 ballots per round. Three scoring judges evaluate each of the four rounds per team. When the dust cleared, some interesting results were noted. Virginia and George Washington University had tied for first place with 9 winning ballots—Virginia won the ties-breaker; Miami was third with 8.5 ballots (having won 8, lost 3, and tied one). However, Miami was the only team of the twenty-four to have won each of the four rounds, having taken a majority of ballots in each round: Virginia #2 by 2-0-1; Michigan by 2-1; Tennessee by 2-1; and Virginia #1, the tournament champion, by 2-1. Miami also played the toughest schedule with its four opponents amassing 29 total ballots, more than any other team. Miami played and beat two teams in the top four: Virginia and Tennessee and defeated yet another team in the top ten, 10th place Michigan. The top five teams were: Virginia, George Washington, Miami, Tennessee, and Washington University.
Guz Lazares, senior economics major from Cincinnati, was named a top tournament attorney by garnering 25 of 30 possible ranks, his fourth such award this fall out of four competitions. Alex Bluebond, senior economics major from Akron, was named the tournament’s top witness by garnering 29 of 30 possible ranks.
With this 3rd place finish, the Miami program’s four squads completed it falls season with two fourth places at the Iowa and Bellarmine tournaments, two third places at the Eastern Kentucky and Washington D.C. tournaments, and the championship of the University of California-Irvine competition.
After winter break, the program will be competing in mid and late January at the Ohio Northern, New York University, Columbia University, and Georgia Tech competitions. Miami will also host a small 14 team competition in honor of dedicating the new mock trial room in the Farmer School of Business January 30/31. Then, all four Miami squads will be competing in February at the American Mock Trial Association regional qualifying competitions, the first step to qualifying for the national championship tournament in Memphis in early April.
The program is directed by business law professor Dan Herron with Professors Wayne Staton and Dan Haughey, residence hall advisor Barry Tolchin, and Chase College of Law student Lawrence Hilton completing the coaching staff.