Famed attorney and law scholar Alan Dershowitz had this to say in his book of essays to young lawyers: “Law is an imperfect profession in which success can rarely be achieved without some sacrifice of principle. … There is no perfect justice, just as there are no absolutes in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we see it.”

Add to that challenging backdrop of ambiguity the skills of arguably some of the best attorneys, expert witnesses, and presentation coaches in Denver, plus dozens of motivated Colorado Academy Upper School students, and you get one of the most heady, beyond-the-classroom experiences around.

It is the Mock Trial program at CA, a program with State Tournament bragging rights from each of the past six years of its existence – and a program with two runner-up spots at the two most recent state championships.

The Colorado Mock Trial program, sponsored by the state Bar Association, is one of the leading and most respected programs in the country. More than 100 high school teams consisting of approximately 1,500 students take part. Hundreds of attorneys, judges, teachers, and other community leaders statewide volunteer their time to instruct students about the judicial system and the trial process.

CA faculty sponsor and Upper School history instructor Luis Terrazas attributes the program’s success to three things: the dedication and talent of CA’s volunteer coaches, the coachability of CA’s students, and to a program where excellence comes first.

 

The program begins in the fall as the Colorado Bar Association’s Mock Trial committee releases the year’s fictional case. Students and lawyers meet each week for two to three hours to study every nuance and interpretation of the facts and evidence. Says Terrazas, “We identify the issues and the inconsistencies in witness statements, we study the aggravating and mitigating factors; we search for ways to impeach a witness, and help students become fluent in the rules of evidence and courtroom procedure.”

 

As they prepare for their first meet in February, each coach takes the opportunity to work with each Mock Trial student. Student teams must be able to play either the prosecution or the defense as they take the case into a real courtroom for trial against an opposing team. The jurors and judges for these cases are most often practicing lawyers who volunteer their time.

Students must be able to think critically, react unflappably to surprises, speak and act before an audience, and do so with the courtroom decorum of a trained attorney. In thank-you letters to the coaches, one student wrote, “You taught us how to have a commanding presence, be both serious and humorous, and earn respect simply through our actions everyday at practice… In our pursuit of your example, we discovered excellence.”

“These coaches,” says Terrazas, “have a way of inspiring students to reach for excellence, and to compel excellence in one another. That is a remarkable thing.“ In reflecting on the impact of their coaching, another student writes, “You helped explain the intricacies of the rules of evidence…you tested our knowledge, but also changed how we view leadership.”

 

The Mock Trial program began when CA alumnus Peter Arkell (CA ‘10) and his father David Arkell, a Faegre Baker and Daniels attorney first approached Terrazas in 2008 about starting a program at CA. “I had no clue what it was or how it worked,” says Terrazas, but he has shepherded the program to repeated success. He says the credit to the coaches and points out that it’s not because the coaches have a child involved in the program, but because they truly wish to share their knowledge of the judicial system.

 

So many students have become interested in the program that CA fields three separate teams. Terrazas says it comes down to the coaches who take complicated and complex issues and make them accessible to young people. For students, that translates to “an invitation to share confidence, to take risks, but never to settle for mediocrity.”

 

As though speaking of the program aloud renews his own amazement at the coaching staff, Terrazas throws back his head and laughs. “Imagine,” he says, “if you calculated the billable hours…”

 

Francis Barron – Senior Vice President and general counsel at Denver-based Cimarex Energy.

Doug Beck-More than 20 years of experience as a partner in major international law firm and in in-house departments of Fortune 500 companies in financial services and consumer goods industries.

 

William Carey - William C Carey, P.C., forensic accountant and expert witness with experience in management, accounting, information systems, reorganization, and bankruptcy; also, a former Captain in the U.S. Special Forces.

 

Kimberly Creedon – In-house counsel for the University of Colorado at Denver overseeing contract management for Addiction Research and Treatment Services, a clinical program of the Division of Substance Dependence, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. More than 20 years of law experience, including 12 years of civil defense litigation

 

Mike Gallagher – Davis, Graham and Stubbs, LLP. Trial attorney in state and federal courts on commercial and environmental issues impacting natural resource companies.

 

Mark Grueskin - Recht Kornfeld, PC. Law Week Colorado named him Best Government Lawyer in a Law Firm, and Campaigns & Elections Magazine called him "Colorado's best election lawyer, bar none.”

Kirk Ingebretsen - Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P. Complex commercial litigation. He has received the highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards from his peers; was named a “Super Lawyer” (awarded to the top 5 percent of the Colorado Bar) on five separate occasions.

Tia Rebholz – Executive coach in media relations, professional voice over actor, and teacher of presentation skills at the Denver Center for Performing Arts.

 

Bill Niles - Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Ascent Capital Group Inc.,

 

Victoria Sharp – Criminal prosecutor and Chief Deputy DA for the Second Judicial District.

 

Maribeth Younger - CapitalValue Advisors/Silvercloud Companies. Corporate and securities lawyer with experience in transactions, mergers and acquisitions, SEC filings, pre- and post-IPOs, and general securities law.