Mock Trial takes it to a new level

Ryan Kung, Staff Writer|April 14, 2023

Following a successful season, the Diamond Bar High School Mock Trial team takes their journey to new heights as they propel onto a grander stage for the annual Duke University Moot Court competition. 

A different format than a traditional high school mock trial, moot court is a university competition that features analyzing Supreme Court hearings and making original arguments based on actual legal precedent. 

Students present evidence and ask each other questions about the presented case, which ultimately contributes to the overall scoring. 

The ten Brahmas on the moot court team include: senior Julienne Uy, junior Jeremiah Jung, junior Hilary Hui, senior Vishnu Sriram, senior Alexandra Chala, sophomore Mia Artale, junior Ashley Cha, senior Lizzy Kim, sophomore Chloe Zhou and junior Gloria Nien. 

This group of students traveled across the country to North Carolina to add onto Diamond Bar’s prestige in court competitions, with nearly everybody qualifying for octo-finals and further.

Adding accolades, Jung, Sriram, Chala, and Uy qualified for the national competition later this May, placing in the top eight out of over fifty competitors. 

“I feel that I was able to perform well. Considering the fact that this was my first ever moot court competition, I was able to help my teammates and qualify for the second day of competition,” Uy said. “All of our hard work paid off at the competition as many of us won our rounds.”

In several rounds of eliminations, Brahmas were divided by pairs. Jung and Sriram qualified up to the semi-finals, where they fell short only minimally to the team that eventually won the competition.

“I attribute the success mostly to the comradery between me and my partner,” Sriram said. “Jeremiah and I showed dominance mainly because we showed efficiency in our preparations.”

This competition was the first in-person event following the two-year shutdown due to COVID-19. 

“This competition was very exciting for me since we had our two previous mock trial and moot court competitions online in front of a computer screen,” Sriram said. “It was definitely a great send-off for my high school law career that I will take with me to college.”

The team plans to continue their success in both mock trial and moot court next season with new faces after tryouts in the first month of the 2023-24 school year.

“I’m excited to see what is ahead of us for the upcoming school year,” Hui said. “I met new people and learned many things that I didn’t previously know about law and speaking in general.”