OCBA ELEMENTARY MOCK TRIAL TIPS FOR ATTORNEY VOLUNTEERS

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1 OCBA ELEMENTARY MOCK TRIAL TIPS FOR ATTORNEY VOLUNTEERS Congratulations and thank you! Your assistance with this program will be both rewarding and valuable to your assigned class. This sheet is designed to answer frequently asked questions and guide you to a smooth program. Classrooms interested must complete an application available on the OCBA website. Once a class is assigned to you, here is what you do: 1. Understand your class a. What grade? b. How many classes and teachers? c. How many kids total? d. Do they want to go to circuit court, district court, or don t they care? e. Who is your contact person? f. Is there a preferred time frame for the courthouse visit? g. Is there a preferred time of day (usually morning is best and you must get the kids back for lunch)? h. Do they want you to visit the class before the courthouse visit? (This is a best practice and is highly recommended.) If this information is not apparent from the application, or call your contact and cover these topics. Some basic information: The exercise is designed for 2 nd -6 th grade (elementary school). 1

2 Trial materials are on the OCBA website. For the courthouse visit, the OCBA provides blown up poster-sized exhibits the kids may use. A single trial may accommodate upwards of 40 students, but closer to is optimal: o 4 witnesses o 4-6 attorneys per side (8-12 total) o Judge and bailiff o Jury Oftentimes one class will split in to two trial groups. One group will watch while the other group performs, and vice versa. If you have more than two trial groups, logistics can be a challenge. The classes will want to go together. We likely would need to secure multiple courtrooms for the exercise (for example, four trial groups, two per courtroom). Parents (as chaperones or visitors) are welcome to attend in small numbers; remind them of cell phone rules in the courthouse. The script is a starting point only; teachers should feel free to have children modify it, add to it or toss it aside and build their own dialog. Dress is courtroom-appropriate. You might mention that in the past some classes have dressed either professionally (e.g., suit and tie) and/or had witnesses dress up in costumes. This is strictly optional. 2. After your initial conversation with the teacher, reach out to the chambers of the judge(s) you are interested in visiting with. Before doing so, coordinate with the OCBA to make sure that judge is not being approached by multiple groups. Explain to the judge the nature of the program. Frequently asked questions: a. How long? If you are doing two groups back to back, allow 90 total minutes. b. What do I do? We normally ask the judge to (a) spend 15 minutes up front welcoming the kids, saying what they might want to regarding the judicial system, the importance of 2

3 the jury, etc. and answering some questions. Include within this some day in the life discussion from the judge and maybe some background. During the trial, most classrooms will have a kid play the judge. The judge is welcome to observe from behind the bench and help the student judge. During jury deliberations, the judge can either entertain the rest of the kids while the jury deliberates or go back to the jury room and help out the process (the attorney volunteer will fill in whatever role the judge doesn t play). At the end, answer some more questions there are always more questions. Assuming the judge is interested, secure a few potential dates then circle back to the teacher. Obviously, attempt to minimize inconvenience to the court by avoiding multiple rounds of backand-forth on scheduling. 3. Once your courtroom session is set and confirmed with the court and the classroom, confirm it to the OCBA via . The OCBA will advise the court administrator if you are in circuit court, which in turn will advise the deputies that a class is coming through. OCBA staff will attend with exhibit sets and to take photos. 4. Schedule your in-class visit if that is selected. Normally schedule this approximately one week before the courtroom visit so the kids have practiced by that time. In the classroom visit, make it your own, but here are some tips. This is a highly rewarding experience, so do it with enthusiasm and have fun! a. Before you go, ask the teacher how she/he is integrating the mock trial with curriculum. Teachers might be focused on anything from community involvement to separation of powers to the judicial system. You can then address some of those points in your visit. b. Introduce yourself. c. Loosen up the room a bit by talking about what you do, your background. d. You might consider a few points about the law maybe the importance of law in a civilized society, why we have juries, etc. e. Describe the courtroom for the kids take a picture with your phone if you can. Explain where they will sit/stand (and why). Explain some basic courtroom procedures (such as all rise and why we do it) and etiquette. 3

4 f. Run through the mock trial once. Take questions from the kids. Be enthusiastic and supportive. 5. A day or two before the courthouse visit: a. Confirm with everybody as to time, etc. b. You might want to ask court staff to record the proceedings via video and provide a disc to the teacher. c. Remind the teacher of courtroom security protocols. d. OCBA staff to confirm attendance. 6. The day of the courthouse visit: a. Arrive early. Check in with the deputies and chambers. b. Greet the kids when they arrive and get them situated in the courtroom. c. Once assembled, advise court staff you are ready. d. Welcome the class and introduce the judge. e. Allow minutes for questions/discussion by the judge. Keep on schedule. f. Introduce the actual trial. If running multiple teams, remind the kids that one will go while the other watches and vice versa. Remind kids of places in the courtroom. Get the bailiff and judge oriented. g. Watch and enjoy the trial. Have the bailiff hold up exhibits for the jury in addition to swearing in witnesses. h. Facilitate the jury exit and re-entry for deliberations. No more than 5 minutes or so for deliberations. Start with selection of a foreperson and try to engender some dialog. i. After the jury delivers its verdict, round of applause. Run the 2 nd trial. If concluded, start with some discussion, e.g., why did you rule that way? Segue in to some final Q&A for the judge. j. End with thanks to the judge and a round of applause. Facilitate exit from building. 4

5 A NOTE ON LARGE GROUPS: On occasion we are requested to facilitate multiple classes at once. For example, one school sent 4 trial teams at once. In that case, we secured two courtrooms simultaneously and ran 2 groups in each. This is an extra logistical problem so make sure you give yourself enough time to set it up; you likely will have to attempt multiple judges if you have a short time frame. OPTION ON MULTIPLE GROUPS: When hosting more than 1 trial team on a visit, and particularly in circuit court, you could attempt to have the non-performing team step out to another courtroom to witness an actual trial. While the kids love this, it is an extra logistical feat. Some tips: You will have to stay in touch with Kevin Oeffner or a district court administrator to see what might be scheduled. Schedules change often, so this is normally done fairly close to the trial date. The matter cannot contain inappropriate subject matter (CSC, graphic employment discrimination, etc.) The court administrator may check directly with chambers to make sure you can stop in. If instead you have to do this, or even if the administrator has done it, you should contact the judge, thank them for allowing the class and verifying the subject matter. The day of the visit, again check in with the other courtroom to remind them the kids are coming in. Be kind to counsel; they most often don t mind and are facilitating. Once one set of kids is ready to start the trial, line the other group up in the hallway. Have the judge or OCBA staff start the trial. You lead the other group to the other courtroom. Reinforce complete silence in the hallways and the courtroom. Ideally, parent chaperones attend to reinforce behavior in the courtroom. Drop the kids off, and then either go back and get them in 20 minutes or else tell a parent to bring them back at a specific time. Time it so the judge conducting the mock trial is not left waiting for the other group to get back. 5