The USC Trial Advocacy program won a regional mock trial tournament last weekend, going undefeated with an 8-0 record.
Hosted by Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, the tournament took place on the weekend of Feb. 28 and March 1 as part of the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) circuit. Their win at regionals qualified them for a bid at nationals.
Heidy Cho, a senior majoring in history, was awarded “Outstanding Attorney” and said the win was “really exciting” and worth the long hours put in.
“It definitely took a lot of sacrifice, in terms of our weekends and class times and evenings to practice,” Cho said. “I know a lot of us are constantly spending time doing this activity, but it all paid off in the end.”
The USC Trial Advocacy program, also known as USC Mock Trial, competes on the AMTA tournament circuit. According to their website, they participate in public service and civil rights advocacy in the fields of immigration, police accountability, and homelessness. The program is offered for class credit at USC through the course POSC 398.
“We put a lot of emphasis in our program on preparing ourselves to provide access to justice for those who would not otherwise have it,” said USC Dornsife Trial Advocacy Program Director Olu Orange. “Our program is very heavily public interest focused, and so doing well competitively means to us that we are better prepared to assist people who will need our help.”
Orange said the program consists of three parts: a competitive trial advocacy program with competitions around the country throughout the year, a classroom component where students receive legal instruction over two semesters each year and a public interest law component, where students are placed with public interest legal organizations. The third part helps students engage in activities to represent people who need help, funded by two endowments from families of people whom students have helped in the past.
For Cho, the most memorable part of the event was during the closing ceremonies, where individuals and the team were awarded.
“It was just a wonderful time to celebrate everybody,” she said.
Another member who was also awarded “Outstanding Attorney” at the closing ceremony was Ava Miranda, a junior double-majoring in philosophy, politics and law and Spanish.
“Regionals were definitely a culmination of the hundreds of hours that every individual in the program put in,” she said. “Hearing your name be called just shows that through all of that you’re being recognized by real professionals in the field, so it feels amazing.”
Like Cho, Miranda said her most memorable part was during the closing ceremony. She recalled that during the ceremony, the announcer said, “I’m glad USC is sitting next to each other, because here’s another award.”
Orange also said the closing ceremony stuck with him the most.
“They just kept announcing ‘USC.’ Every other word out of their mouth is ‘USC, USC, USC for this, USC for that, USC, the winner of the tournament,” he recalled.“USC, everything.’”
The team’s ultimate goal is to make it to nationals, so the preparation continues. The members will be working through Spring Break to prepare for the Opening Round Championship Series, which will be held on March 21 and March 22 in Phoenix.
“We are one of the strongest teams going into nationals with one of the best records and with one of the greatest expectations of being successful at that level,” Orange said. “It’s a heck of an accomplishment, because competition is very stiff.”