Students Hone Litigation Skills Through Mock Trial Competition

On February 22, the St. John Fisher College Mock Trial team traveled to Buffalo State University to compete against mock trial teams from across the state.

Fisher’s team include 10 students who take the role of either attorneys or witnesses in the competition. This year, the fictional trial featured a civil negligence case between two parties: Danny Kosack and Midlands Television Studio. Both parties sued each other for negligence after Danny Kosack’s chimpanzee attacked and killed a man during a rehearsal for a television performance.

The attorneys on Fisher’s Mock Trial team are Cassidy Palumbo, Hannah Buschner, Colin Whitman, and Brad Kinsman. Tom Gough, Maddy Hepp, Justine Brower, Avery Ryan, Alessandra Pecora, and Robert Markwick served as witnesses, playing the roles of characters including expert witnesses, the defendant, bystanders of the attack, the widow of the man killed, as well as the host of the television show where the attack took place.

“The Mock Trial Team had a great learning experience competing against other teams at Buffalo State University, and they had the opportunity to practice litigation skills, public speaking skills, and further their legal connections,” said Jane Snyder, experiential learning coordinator and adjunct professor in the legal studies program, who serves as the team’s advisor.