Lafayette Will Host American Mock Trial Association Tournament March 15-17

Lafayette’s mock trial team will host the Easton Opening Round Championship Series March 15-17 at the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas in downtown Easton.

Chris Reginer ’15 competes at last year’s Easton Regional Mock Trial Tournament.

Sponsored by the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA), the competition is one of eight official opening round tournaments being held across the United States in March and is the second level of national competition. Lafayette’s team advanced to the opening round after placing at its regional tournament, which was held at Yale University Feb. 23-24. More than 500 teams from 350 colleges and universities participate at the regional level.

Including Lafayette, 24 teams from colleges and universities across the East Coast will compete in the Easton championship. Six teams from each opening round tournament will advance to the AMTA National Championship April 12-14 in Washington, D.C. This is the third year that Lafayette has hosted an AMTA tournament.

In mock trial, participants portray attorneys and witnesses to argue a court case. All teams are given the same case to prepare, but changes are incorporated by AMTA as the competition advances to give teams new challenges and force them to create new case theories.