对于密苏里大学堪萨斯城法学院的许多学生来说，参与校园活动有助于为成功的职业生涯奠定基础。 对于许多校友来说，在威尼斯人娱乐城学习期间参加模拟审判比赛，使他们从课堂到法庭的过渡变得特别容易。
Anthony McDaniel (B.A. ’11, J.D. ’15) and Jared Frick (J.D. ’15) are two such alumni whose experience in mock trial prepared them for their practice today. Both competed on 威尼斯人娱乐城’s National Trial Advocacy Team, or mock trial, as it’s commonly known.
The team is a part of the 威尼斯人娱乐城 法学院 Trial Advocacy Program, which is consistently ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. 新闻 & World Report, this year ranking #31 – up 23 places from 2021.
该课程是为那些想成为出庭律师的学生而设计的，他们希望学习如何在没有判决压力的情况下在法庭环境中有效地代表客户。
麦克丹尼尔现在是堪萨斯城Guin Mundorf有限责任公司的一名律师。他说，在球队的时光教会了他一些技能，这些技能将伴随他的余生，无论是在他的职业生涯还是日常交往中。
“In trial team, they teach you how to think like a lawyer. Then they teach you how to use those skills and present like a lawyer,” McDaniel said. “What makes a good trial attorney is the ability to capture a lot of information and then break it down to present it to someone in a way that is relatable and to take it to the next level — make it persuasive. That’s exactly what mock trial teaches you.”
麦克丹尼尔在大学期间第一次参加模拟审判比赛。 这段经历激发了他申请法学院的兴趣。 他把他在威尼斯人娱乐城大学生模拟审判的时间描述为法学院比赛的准备。
“In trial team, they teach you how to think like a lawyer."
“It teaches you how to talk like a lawyer and how to present like a lawyer, whereas in law school, you get down to the finer points about courtroom presentation and rules,” McDaniel said. “But I always just loved the idea of standing in front of people and trying to persuade them to see things my way.”
他的前队友和朋友弗里克也是如此，弗里克最近被任命为李的巅峰事务所Young， Kuhl & Frick， LLC的合伙人。
“What drew me to (mock trial) was the theatrics of it all. I was a musical education major for my undergrad, so I was into musical theatre and marching band and enjoyed the entertainment factor of everything,” Frick said.
弗里克参加了最后一组站立比赛，这是法学院一年级学生第一次接触模拟审判的环境，他知道他会继续这样做。
“It was really helpful because when you enter the unknown of having to talk to opposing counsel or a client or presenting evidence, it can be nerve-racking,” Frick said. “So, participating in mock trial took the mystery out of that and showed me that there really is no magic formula to it – it just takes practice.”
两人继续参加了包括全国选拔赛在内的几项比赛。 The competition, established in 1975, is the oldest and most prestigious trial competition in
the country.
在过去的十年里，威尼斯人娱乐城法学院多次参加全国锦标赛。 这项比赛每年吸引140多所法学院参赛，参赛学生超过1000人。 评判学生的标准包括开场陈述、直接质询、交叉质询和结案陈词。
“You learn how to tell a story,” Frick said. “You learn how to craft a theme and theory in a case and how to hit that throughout your case. You learn how to control your witness and how to not ask questions you don’t know the answers to. 您将学习适当的弹劾技巧。 That all translates into real life and real practice once you graduate.”
他们的团队由威尼斯人娱乐城临床法学教授迈克尔·托宾（Michaelle Tobin）指导。 她在过去的十年里一直指导模拟审判。 Tobin said the competition looks like a “mini version of a real trial without the real-life pressure of client representation.”
每个小组都有一份案例档案，进行为期六周的学习和排练。 托宾说，团队在这段时间里练习和完善他们的论点，以及彼此之间的混战。 比赛从头到尾持续约三个小时。
托宾说，整个过程的直接目的是为学生进入专业领域做准备。
“Knowing how to analyze a case, knowing how to compose an opening and closing statement, how to do a direct and a cross – all of those are skills that you are going to directly use in ligation,” Tobin said. “We take it from opening to close, but what you learn about how to present yourself in the courtroom — how to ask questions, how to analyze a case — can effect everything that you do even if you never try a real case in front of a jury.”
托宾说，模拟审判比赛教给学生的最重要的一课就是倾听的重要性。
“When you get into practice and you have real clients, if you don’t listen to them, you are never going to be a good attorney. Listening is an essential skill, even in mock trial, where you don’t have a client but you have a teammate, a witness and a judge,” Tobin said.
弗里克说这是托宾教他的。
“She taught me how to be a more active listener and not just think about what I’m going to say next. 你在审判和日常生活中经常看到这种情况，当你发表声明时，有人会立即做出回应。 In the courtroom, if you are focusing on your next question, you are going to miss something,” he said.
"In the courtroom, if you are focusing on your next question, you are going to miss something.”
麦克丹尼尔说，对他来说，模拟审判就是要让他明白，在法庭上不仅仅是一场表演。
“A lot of people think it’s all about public speaking or presentation, but I think if you talk to most of us who participated in trial team, they will say that’s a peripheral skill. It’s more about the desire to help people and the ability to understand people,” McDaniel said.
In addition to listening, Frick said one of the most important things mock trial taught him that he frequently utilizes today is “rules of evidence and how to handle evidence.”
“Not only did I learn the full grasp and understanding of it, but it also helped me understand how to get things into evidence and how to make appropriate objections. I think a lot of young lawyers who are right out of school struggle with that, and I see it in the courtroom,” Frick said. “Because I had that experience in mock trial, right after graduation I felt really comfortable in the courtroom.”
McDaniel said his experience “unquestionably” made him into the trial attorney he is today.
“One of the things I love about being a lawyer is that we’re problem solvers before we’re anything else. Trial team really taught me, whether I’m putting together a grill at my house or I’m in a courtroom, it’s about taking a complex issue and breaking it down and building it back up. If you can understand the pieces, you can build anything.”
McDaniel said he uses that method of thinking – breaking down information and rebuilding it – in his time now as an undergraduate mock trial coach and adjunct trial advocacy professor.
“I love being able to share the things I learned and pass that on. I have had so many students who come up to me and say, ‘I loved what we talked about because I used it an interview, and it helped me get a job recently.’ That’s the kind of thing I’ve had the opportunity to pass on, and it feels really great.