UMass Law UMass Law: Owens Serves as Judge in Harvard Law School’s Inaugural Mock Trial Tournament

Professor Owens was invited to serve as a judge in Harvard Law School’s inaugural mock trial tournament. The tournament brought together 24 mock trial teams from law schools across the country.

UMass Law Professor Lisa Owens was invited to serve as a judge in Harvard Law School’s inaugural law school mock trial tournament, The Crimson Cup. The fact pattern involved in the trial involved geofence warrants and novel developments in 4th Amendment law, a subject on which Professor Owens has recently published research. 

The role of the judges in the trial is twofold. First, each judge officiates the trial, ruling on objections from counsel and overseeing the structure of the trial as it would in a courtroom.  Secondly, a judge scores each of the advocates based on their performance in opening arguments, questioning of witnesses, closing arguments and overall performance in the trial.  In the mock trials, judges provide important feedback for the competitors so that they can incorporate the advice into future rounds and future litigation.

The tournament was held from April 14th-16th in Cambridge, MA. There were 24 mock trial teams from law schools across the country that competed in the tournament.