In an Alameda County courtroom, a well dressed attorney defends their client from hit and run charges. The attorney questions witnesses, speaks to the judge, and debates the prosecuting attorney, all with the formality of a real court case and with the look of a real courtroom.

Except it’s not quite real. It’s mock trial. The courtroom participants are high school students from around the state performing real, applicable trial cases, under supervision of a volunteer judge. They divide into teams, with each person with their own respective role that contributes to the overall process of the case. Is it acting? Not quite. Although participants practice their cases as a team before their performances in a real courtroom, mock trial is not as simple as acting out one’s lines to a jury.

“You have to do a lot of the arguments on the spot,” senior co-captain Emily Serleth said, “The challenging part of mock trial is definitely making sure you and your team are prepared for the weird, out of the box arguments that some teams make and how you will or can respond to those arguments.”

Mock trial is a form of debate practiced among teenagers, college students, law students, and even practicing lawyers. The point of mock trial is for two teams to perform a case for a panel of judges, and the team that performs at a higher level, gets a better score. New cases are handed out each year by the Constitutional Rights Foundation often alternating from murder trials to civil cases. The team who performs the case, answers questions, and makes statements the best wins. Not only does a team have to perform well in the courtroom, it must also have a strong case theory, which is formulated amongst the team before the mock trial.

“The goal is to perform better and have a better case theory than the other side and then get a higher score than the other team,” Serleth said.

This year’s case involves a hit and run incident, with the defense, prosecution, and witnesses claiming varying views. For a team to have a good case theory, it must have understanding in the case’s technicalities and which constitutional laws are involved with the case. Not only that, but the team must also have good chemistry.

“Chemistry is very important for teams,” junior Kevin Wu said, “Especially between the attorney and witness.”

Wu, an alternate attorney on this year’s team, stressed the importance of having the necessary skills to constitute a well rounded team.

“You have to have a lot of important skills,” Wu said, “from having confidence to public speaking.”

Aside from being helpful in the courtroom, Serleth emphasizes the applicability of these skills to life.

“Mock trial teaches you so many skills that are great for later in life,” Serleth said, “ such as public speaking and how to work under pressure, but it also teaches you a lot about being on a team.”

Serleth, in her third year of mock trial, will be one of three captains leading the twenty-two person roster for the 2012-2013 team.

Along with the captains, this year’s team will be coached by Elizabeth Shaw and David Keller, with the help of several other Piedmont attorneys.

Keller, new to the program this year, says he most importantly wants to learn about the program and process, and is appreciative of the program and chance to coach. Keller says he would not change a thing about the current program, content with the work ethic of the team.

“That’s a little bit like going to a world series team and saying, what do you want to do new?” Keller said, “These guys are great, and so I don’t know that I want to change anything. I want to just learn about the system and see what’s there and then build on that.”

As for the goals of this year’s team, this year’s Mock Trial hopes to make it even farther than last’s.

“Last year we got to Semi-Finals,” Serleth said, “We worked really hard to get there and this year we hope to go further.”

Wherever this year’s Mock Trial team ends up at the end of the year, it is the competitive experience and team atmosphere that is truly special to its participants.

“It is very important to Piedmont High School to have an organized team that competes in county,” Wu said.

“We spend so many hours working together for the 6 months that our season lasts,” Serleth said, “you learn to really be a good teammate and work together even when you’re stressed or losing.”

“People love it because it’s all of those things that you look for in an activity,” Keller said.