The Niles West Mock Trial is a competitive club in which students take on the roles of attorneys and witnesses to perform a trial, switching off between criminal and civil cases. Students take on the roles of attorneys, preforming tasks such as opening statements, direct examinations, cross examinations, closing arguments and objections. Witnesses take on the role of someone involved in the case and answer questions made by each team. The judge scores each performance alongside an evaluator who acts as the jury, after which all the scores are added together to determine who wins the round.
Micheal Pinsof, also known as ‘Coach Pins,’ is not only the assistant coach for the team, but also has been an attorney in private practice for 44 years. Pinsof shared a little about the team’s recent endeavors as well as their dedication to the club.
“We have 11 extremely dedicated and brilliant members, most of whom are freshman and sophomores who have never competed in mock trial. We conducted auditions in October, after recruiting several members at the Niles West Activities Fair. We practice twice a week after school for two hours. We participated virtually in a mock trial workshop offered by the Harvard University mock trial team. We also went on a road trip to Mt. Vernon, Iowa where the team participated in a full-day interactive workshop with the Cornell College Mock Trial Team. At the workshop, the team learned valuable skills and gained confidence and hands-on experience, along with a dozen or so Iowa high school mock trial teams. I would have to say that that trip has been the highlight of the season so far,” Pinsof said.
Junior and mock trial co-captain Nabiah Sheikh enjoys her time as a cross-examination attorney for the varsity team and hopes for a successful season back in action.
“Coming from an optimistic captain, I hope to place top eight in the state this year and to compete in the Tournament of Champions during the spring season. I have witnessed such great improvement with all of the members (who have come with virtually no experience) and I know they are all extremely capable of achieving great things. My main goal for everyone is to be better than when they walked in, and that is something that I have seen happen,” Sheikh said.
Junior varsity mock trial member and freshman River Delman believes that joining the club has allowed him to become more involved in the school while also enabling him to create more connections with people.
“Mock trial is a great opportunity for me to find leadership opportunities and a community in Niles West aside from my friends coming in from middle school. When you join, if you’re like me, you may be nervous because you don’t know anyone coming into the team, but in a month or two you’ll bond so much with the other team members and get to know each other very well. For the rest of the year, my mock trial plans are to help refine our case even more and to keep talking and being friends with everyone in the team,” Delman said.
The Niles West Mock Trial Team recently scored fifth out of 18 at a conference after making a comeback as a club, after which Pinsof expressed his sentiments about the team and all of its members.
“The most important thing that I wnt to express to the Niles West student body and faculty is how proud I am of the commitment and dedication shown by each member of this team. They realize that they are learning lifelong skills like teamwork, factual analysis, problem solving, organization, public speaking and forming lost-lasting friendships with their teammates. I respect and admire each member of our team. The Niles West Mock Trial Team totally rocks,” Pinsof said.
