Another Great High School Year

In the spring of 2021, the Florida High School Mock Trial Competition was more challenging than ever. This annual event brings together outstanding students who perform a trial in teams of six. Three take on the role of counsel, and three of witnesses. Time and again, the organizers and judges note that none of us had the wherewithal to undertake such a task in our youth. These young people are rather awe-inspiring.

All of that is true in the best of times. I refuse to believe the publicity suggesting that these are the worst of times. COVID has impacted us all, and there have been challenges this year. But, I see so much positive progress occurring in this world. I truly believe the future is very bright.

Based on the parameters set forth for the state competition, we modeled the First Circuit competition on a virtual platform. I have handled a fair number of Zoom hearings in the last year and learned a lot from those experiences. For example, I learned that equipment redundancy makes a great deal of sense (have two computers ready, just in case). It continues to astound me how many ways our old friend Murphy insinuates him/herself into our technology. And at the end of the day, if something can go wrong it will. Despite having used Zoom a great deal since this pandemic started, I learned new things last week in the competition. 

Of note, I learned how to “livestream.“ This is a topic I’ve heard mentioned over the years. Not being a Kardashian, I had never perceived its value to me. Suddenly, however, I was presented with a need to manage trial participants and found the prospects of any observers quite daunting. With two teams in a Zoom conference, along with the coach or two, myself, and some help, you are very soon beyond 15–20 people. The limitations of the platform are accommodated by creating pages of thumbnails in the “gallery view.” With many participants in a Zoom room, the thumbnail pictures become small, and scrolling is required to view participants. The "live stream" allowed spectators that did not impact the logistics of participants. 

You can also run the risk in any virtual proceeding that some interloper will choose your meeting for harassment, self-aggrandizement, or worse. Time and again I have been asked how the OJCC can fulfill its statutory obligation to conduct live hearings, consistent with the challenges of maintaining order in the hearing room. The answer, it seems quite clear, is live streaming. This allows the Zoom broadcast to be replicated in a short time-delayed chronology on our YouTube channel. – Any member of the public may attend, fulfilling our statutory duty. However, their attendance is limited to viewing and will not allow interference.

The lessons I learned from the 2021 High School competition:

Lesson one, it may not be impossible to do two things at once but it is impractical when it comes to Zoom hearings. My advice to anyone attempting such a competition is to stagger the start times. I tried once to start two rounds at one time, and it was stressful. On the second night of the competition, I offset the start times by a mere 30 minutes and it made all the difference. 

Lesson two, have help. In years past we have been fortunate to have college student's assistance with time-keeping. This year, I asked for technical help. With two college students present in each round, one to focus on timekeeping and the other to be cohost, my stress was greatly diminished. I am deeply grateful for the volunteers from the University of West Florida Legal Studies department. They supported me, caught me repeatedly when I tripped, and patiently kept us on track. I know it is biased, but I perceive young people as technology proficient. These fantastic young people did nothing during the course of our competition to diminish my faith in their technological superiority.

Lesson three, recruit great volunteers. I wish I could take credit for this. I wish that somehow these fantastic people were somehow my responsibility. We were so blessed this year to have presiding judges from the OJCC, County Court, Circuit Court, District Court, and Florida Supreme Court (retired) in this local competition. In our little, quiet, corner of the state, we had fantastic, patient, and engaged presiding judges. The attorneys who volunteered were gracious, frank, outgoing, forgiving, supportive, patient, and more. Their amazing contribution to these young people‘s lives is frankly immeasurable.

Lesson four, there’s always a kind word. We live in a stressful and challenging time. Certainly, COVID-19 has exacerbated this. But, So much more pressure is apparent around us. We live in a society fraught with divergent perspectives. We struggle at times with challenges that seem sometimes insurmountable. We may struggle with the mundane day-to-day in our lives and sometimes are faced with crushing realities. In the course of this competition, I saw competitors support opponents. I heard kind words exchanged graciously. And, as is so common with these young people, I heard a great many gracious and sincere expressions of gratitude and thanks. 

This experience caused me to look back upon my experiences with the high school mock trial program. I recall my first exposure at Fletcher High School in Jacksonville decades ago. I remember the many faces and personalities of hundreds of students I have met in the last 15 years working on the program in Pensacola. And, as I struggle to recover from an event full week, I realize how much these students have given me. I get more from this program than any of them do. 

The news is persistently focused on the “dirty laundry,“ Don Henley 1982. It is easy to believe our society has basic problems. I am not naïve enough to believe that these students are perfect, flawless, or better than we were at 17. But I’m confident that they are every bit as capable, determined, and focused as prior generations ever were. They are our future, and our future is bright indeed.

I am grateful to all who participated, supported, judged, and watched. We are lucky to have a solid state competition, an organizing and coordinating leadership, and outstanding local coaches and sponsors. But, this is my opportunity to express thanks to those who volunteered here in the First Circuit to support this program and these students:

Dr. Charlie Penrod, University of West Florida (Presiding)
Bonnie Staples, Esq (Scoring)
Brenton Goodman, Esq (Scoring)

Hon. Jennifer Frydrychowicz, First Circuit (Presiding)
Aaron McCurdy, Esq (Scoring)
Valerie Prevatte, Esq (Scoring)

Hon. Michael Allen, First Circuit (Ret). (Presiding)
Patrick Martin, Esq (Scoring)
Tara Sa’id, Esq (Scoring)

Hon. Gary Bergosh, First Circuit (Presiding)
Amy Shea, Esq (Scoring)
Aaron McCurdy, Esq (Scoring)

Hon. Ross Bilbrey, First District (Presiding)
Adam Royal, Esq (Scoring)
Amanda Kidd, Esq (Scoring)

Hon. Margret Kerr, Florida OJCC (Presiding)
Pamela Langham, Esq (Scoring)
Hana Bilicki, Esq (Scoring)

Hon. Jonathan Walker, Florida OJCC (Presiding)
Alan LaCerra, Esq (Scoring)
Shekka Drayton, Esq (Scoring)

Hon. Amy Broderson, Escambia County (Presiding)
Tara Sa’id, Esq (Scoring)
Shannon Morris, Esq (Scoring)

Hon. Kenneth Bell, Florida Supreme Court (Ret.) (Presiding)
Jessica Etherton, Esq (Scoring)
Travis Morock, Esq (Scoring)