The Live Oak mock trial team defied expectations and picked up a
few pointers, including a new legal adviser, while participating in
scrimmage against other Santa Clara County high schools. Jan
Brodie, an insurance lawyer in Morgan Hill, has been involved with
mock trial for several years. According to Paula Haaser, the
team
’s adviser, Brodie worked for several years with the Cupertino
mock trial team, then moved on to the county offices as an
official.
The Live Oak mock trial team defied expectations and picked up a few pointers, including a new legal adviser, while participating in scrimmage against other Santa Clara County high schools.
Jan Brodie, an insurance lawyer in Morgan Hill, has been involved with mock trial for several years. According to Paula Haaser, the team’s adviser, Brodie worked for several years with the Cupertino mock trial team, then moved on to the county offices as an official.
Brodie will now be taking on a more active role in the club by acting as their legal adviser for next season.
Haaser said the mock trial members did better than she expected, all the while polishing rough spots.
“They were phenomenal,” Haaser said. “They had a good strategy and were exposed to other teams’ strategies. They learned so much.”
Live Oak has more than 30 members on its team, and nearly all of them were on hand for the scrimmage where they competed against teams from Rio Americano and Piedmont, both from Sacramento, Tamalpais, from Mill Valley, and Soquel.
Mock trial is a club that mimics courtroom proceedings complete with attorneys, witnesses and judges. Teams debate their cases, present evidence and are judged based on their performance.
Team from 29 schools in Santa Clara County, as well as a few from other counties, took part in the scrimmage. The purpose was to refine strategies and pick up tips from other schools and competition judges.
Haaser had originally thought only one of Live Oak’s two teams, each consisting of about 15 students, would go to the scrimmage, however both had the opportunity to practice.
According to Haaser, the teams learned a valuable lesson, and received some advice from mock trial judges.
“The judges helped a lot,” Haaser said. “They gave a lot of pointers and gave us access to legal avenues as well as legal web sites.”
The prosecution team even received help from the Santa Clara County District Attorney Bob Baker.
“He talked with them and gave them advice on how to better their case,” Haaser said.
Both teams were directed to literature including a book called Cojax, dealing with fraud cases, and information about the bill of rights.
Live Oak will appear in two more scrimmages before actual competition begins. The first will take place Jan. 27 at Los Altos. The second will be at Santa Clara High on Feb. 7.
Competitions will be held on the second and fourth weeks of February on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
If the team scores high enough they can qualify for the regional championships where they can move on to state and nationals, depending on their performance.
Haaser says she is confident in her team and only sees a few areas for improvement before competition begins.
“We try to get as many scrimmages in as possible,” Haaser said. “The shows benefit us because they show the weak points and where to patch things up.”
