YMTA visits Korea to Host Annual Mock Trial Tournament

Three members of the Yale Mock Trial Association (YMTA) recently traveled to Seoul, South Korea to work with student competitors from the Korean Mock Trial Association (KMTA). The trip was the fourth of its kind in the last two years.

Yale Mock Trial representatives included Yena Lee (SY ’12), Amarto Bhattacharyya (MC ’12), and John Robinson (SY’ 09). From July 25 to July 26, YMTA members led day-long workshops covering various mock trial topics, including: witness character development, direct examination, cross examination, opening and closing statements, the federal rules of evidence, and general courtroom procedure and decorum. KMTA students then perfected their presentations and argued their cases before a committee of judges from July 31 to August 2.

This year’s case, State of Missouri vs. Lou Morgan, involved a university professor (Lou Morgan) who allegedly assaulted and burglarized the office of another professor (Sam Knox) in hopes of destroying sensitive historical documents – the journals of American explorers Lewis and Clark. The three YMTA representatives judged the case alongside two mock trial attorney-coaches from Saipan.

Thirteen high school teams and three middle school teams competed in the tournament. After two rounds in which members of each team presented both the prosecution and defense sides of their cases, the top eight teams advanced to Sunday’s elimination round. The top three high school teams won the opportunity to represent Korea at a mock trial tournament in Guam later this year.

The YMTA-KMTA relationship began in the fall of 2007, when the director of the KMTA, Daniel Meadors, contacted then YMTA president Ben Solarz about the trip. Mr. Meadors is an attorney from Florida who now teaches AP classes to students in Seoul. Since that time, ten Yalies have journeyed to Korea to work with Korean mock trial students, including YMTA coaches Andrew Thomas (LAW ’09, three trips) and Sarah Chervinsky (LAW ’11), as well as Ben Solarz (JE ’09), Kaitlin Malloy (SM ’09), Joel Nezianya (BK ’09), Sharmistha Das (MC ’09), John Robinson (SY ’09, two trips), Jackie Delligatti (SM ’11), Yena Lee (SY ’12), and Amarto Bhattacharyya (MC ’12). YMTA members have had an opportunity to tour Seoul and Tokyo with their free time.

The bi-annual trips, held in February and August of each year, help the Korean Mock Trial team hone their advocacy skills in preparation for their annual trip to the US to compete in the National High School Mock Trial Championship. At the tournament, the Koreans compete against high school teams representing 38 US states, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Members of the KMTA also travel throughout the world each year to compete in invitational tournaments in New York, New Jersey, Taiwan, and Guam.