ONU Street Law Competition!

Four area high schools competed in the Street Law Competition at ONU's College of Law.  Students served as lawyers and witnesses for a mock criminal case.

ONU law students visited local area high schools on a weekly basis to teach their students the fundamentals of participating in a mock trial.  The high school students learned general aspects of the law, structure of a trial, and the role of an attorney within the trial.

During the mock trial they are judged on opening statements, closing statements, direct examination, cross examination, and overall professionalism.

More than 40 ONU law students and 110 high school students participated in this year's program.

The last few years, our school has participated in this Mock Trial at ONU.  This year the case centered on the death of a college student which occurred during a fraternity rush week.  Although it was challenging to deal with the subject matters of hazing and alcohol, it was still a great experience   It was also eye opening to the students to realize these types of events take place each year on college campuses across the country.

Burlin took the afternoon off work so he could watch the competition.  There were three rounds of three trials.  Our school divided into two teams: Junior High and Senior High.  Within each were prosecuting and defense teams, both consisting of attorneys and witnesses.  

Some interesting highlights:

• Ben had to ask the judge to ask the witness he was cross examining to  just answer the questions  
• Anna had to ask the witness she was cross examining to speak up as she couldn't hear him
• Abigail's team got to perform twice.  She was able to relax the second time and was much improved

Competition results:

• Senior High took 2nd place overall
• Junior High took 3rd place overall (amazing considering they competed against juniors and seniors!)
• Anna, Abigail, and Ben all won best attorney awards for their rounds!