Kansas Bar Association YLS
Mock Trial Competition
Presented by Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP

Registration Deadline
February 15, 2008

The minimum number of members per team is six and need to keep their own time; time keepers are allowed.

The Competition:
The tournaments involve at least two trials, with each team participating in the prosecuting and then the defense of the same case. Each team consists of three or four student attorneys and three or four student witnesses. The case materials contain witness statements, which purposefully conflict, and a bare-bones compilation of applicable law. Panels of three volunteer lawyers judge each round of the competition with one serving as presiding judge to rule on disputes and evidentiary objections. The winning state team then travels to nationals to compete against the winners from other states.

Each competition starts on a Friday afternoon and continues through Saturday. The regional competitions consist of at least two matches with the second and following rounds power-matched to determine the strongest teams. The winners of the regional tournaments advance to the state competition which will be held at one of the state's two law schools. The state competition consists of the five or six top teams who compete in a round robin format with each team matched against all of the others at least once.

The regional competitions are coordinated through local bar organizations, specifically the Young Lawyers Section of the local bar organization if one is available. The local bar is responsible for obtaining lawyer-coaches for the teams as well as the lawyer-judges for the competition. This year we anticipate there will be three to five regional competitions throughout the state.

The Young Lawyers Section of the KBA provides a grant to the state champion in order to participate in the national mock trial competition. This project has been operated successfully for the last seven (7) years, and it has been funded through entrance fees paid by the school, an IOLTA grant from the Kansas Bar Foundation and donations from local bars and other companies.

History and Background:
The Kansas Bar Association's Public Committee in cooperation with the Supreme Court formed the Law and Citizenship Project which was the primary sponsor for the first two Kansas mock trial competitions in 1996 and 1997. This Committee wanted to encourage the development of the program and sought and received the assistance of the KBA YLS. The YLS was originally responsible for the three regional meetings and helping select the case used in the competition. Four years ago, at the suggestion of the Law and Citizenship Project, the YLS became the primary sponsor for the competition. The Kansas Bar Foundation provided funding to allow the YLS to hire a statewide coordinator. The Kansas District Judges' Association has also provided financial support in past years to pay for travel expenses for the winning team to go to the national competition.

Mock Trials have proven to be an effective and popular part of the comprehensive, law-focused program designed to provide young people with an operational understanding of the law, legal issues and the judicial process. The essence of the appeal of a mock trial is the fun involved in preparing for, and participating in, a simulated trial. Mock trials are exciting, but more importantly, they provide invaluable learning experiences.

Participation in, and analysis of, mock trials provides young people with an insider's perspective from which to learn about courtroom procedures. Mock trials help students gain a basic understanding of the legal mechanism through which society chooses to resolve many of its disputes. And while obtaining this knowledge, young people develop useful questioning, critical thinking and oral advocacy skills, as well as significant insight into the area of law relevant to the problem in question.

Inviting judges, attorneys, and other members of the legal community to take part in the mock trial will help bridge the gap between the simulated activity and reality, and also will provide an opportunity for the resource people to share their knowledge and experience with young people. Finally, mock trials give participants practical knowledge about courts and trials which can be invaluable should they ever be jurors or witnesses in a real trial or parties to a legal action.