TMT Invitational: UMass Amherst

Hey y'all!

Just got back from an awesome weekend-long tournament at UMass.

For those who haven't read (or can't remember), Tufts Mock Trial is scored by 2 judges per case, and we take turns being Defense and Plaintiff.

My Tufts team (2 teams, 6-8 people each from Tufts competed) went 4:4. We went up against such schools as Boston University, Fordham University, Villanova, and Case Western.

Yours truly earned the nickname "The Barrister," coined by Tufts Mock Trial member Nicholas LoCastro. Although our team did not place in the tournament's top 5 trophy-wining slots, we did have a few winners of overall outstanding awards. Of the 16 Tufts members competing, 3 won awards (there were approximately 150 students at the tournament, about 24 won awards).

To place, students needed to attain 17 ranking points from the judges of their matches. If, in any given trial (of 6 attorneys and 6 witnesses), a student was ranked as the #1 attorney/witness, s/he received 5 points. #2 got 4 points; #3, 3; #4, 2, and there are no #5 or #6 rankings. That said, to win an award, one would need either three 1sts and a 4th, two 1sts, a 2nd, and a 3rd, or one 1st and three 2nds.


Junior Nicholas LoCastro won an Outstanding Attorney Award with 18 points, though he wasn't on my particular TMT team. Senior Krista Morris won an Outstanding Witness Award with 17 points; as she was a teammate of mine, I was thrilled. And, last but not least, The Barrister clinched an Outstanding Attorney Award with 17 points.

"University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1863). Outstanding Attorney. 2010 Thanksgiving Classic Invitational.

I was ecstatic, as was the team! My captains, Dan and Anisha, were exceptionally excited. Our TMT featured an award-winning witness and attorney!

Not gonna be modest; those closing arguments (and rebuttals) were pretty sick. But honestly, co-council Laura Lasko and Anisha Gandhi kinda dominated too - we're all just awesome. Oh, alright Dan, you're great too; nice close on defense.

At the end of my second (and last) trial as an attorney, the presiding judge asked us to raise our hands if we planned to attend law school. I raised mine half way. The judge singled me out: "You're not going to be a lawyer?" I told him I hadn't decided; I was a freshman. "You're a freshman?!" That made me smile.

Yes; this was a brag-post. Sorry. I was deep last time, okay??

At Tufts? Come to Pretzel Night tomorrow. It's free; 8pm; Balch Arena theater! Free food!