London to New York
Born in London, made in New York.
Before I joined Mock Trial in middle school, I had no idea what it was. Our team wasn’t sure if “mock trial” was actually a thing so we instead dubbed ourselves the school “law team”. The team had moderate success–we would win the local heat, but only to be humiliated at regionals. This was, sadly, an ongoing trend due to our “no practise” policy and an arrogance regarding our own abilities. I joined the team as a young student just beginning to hit his stride in the field of public speaking. Having already represented my school in activities ranging from debate and drama to model UN, I was drawn to mock trial due to its opportunity to further demonstrate my abilities in rhetoric. I had no idea at the time that the activity I had just entangled myself in would go on to become my favourite and most successful. It dwarfed the love of debate I held with such zeal at the time. Standing in our local Magistrates’ Court as our arch rivals claimed their regional shield at our expense, I became determined to never face such a situation again and to put in the necessary time and heart needed to reap the rewards in the future. To echo the words of Scarlett O’Hara, my mind bellowed, “As God as my witness, I’ll never lose regionals again!” Well, close enough.
I had the pleasure of being a founding member of our school’s first-ever high school mock trial team. Neither coach nor student had experience nor decoration, but what we lacked in this department, we made up for in skill, passion and a burning desire to succeed where we had failed in the past. With the armour of belief and the sword of rigorous preparation we entered our first ever UK Bar Mock Trial and embarked south of the Thames towards the looming presence of the Inner London Crown Court. As the youngest barrister on our team (the only sophomore among juniors), it had the potential to be a stressful ordeal; however, the pressure enthused and inspired me in a manner debate never had. Standing up to deliver my prosecution closing statement during the Championship round still inspires memories to this day. The feeling of elation and relief as we collected our shield embraced us all. We were the champions of London.
After 3 years of humiliation in other regional public speaking competitions, it was a relief to return home celebrating our victory rather than venting our fury at the adjudicators. For many of us it was the first National Final we had reached but it certainly would not be our last. The road trip to Cardiff awaited–a first for the team and also a personal first for me, having never travelled outside England before. As the only maiden team in Cardiff, we had no complaints when we placed 9th overall on that day. To be ranked in the top 10 in the nation was a monumental achievement in itself. However, as fate would have it, far greater treasures lay in store for our band of merry men.
I’ll admit that I only approached the Empire ambassador in Cardiff due to the available selection of confectionery (Chips Ahoy! reminds me of my birthplace in the Philippines). Before that day, we were ignorant to any form of mock trial outside the UK, let alone a World Championship. It provided an opportunity to aspire to new heights and shatter the glass ceiling that seemed to confine us within the walls of Cardiff Crown Court that morning. It seemed too good to believe at first as it remains the dream of every QE boy to achieve international honours and sport the golden striped tie. This dream was fulfilled when we discovered that our success in the National final was enough to propel us to the Empire World Championship in New York. A new challenge awaited.
It would have appeared that Thanos had paid our mock trial team a visit, for our team of 15 was sadly reduced to 7. It was markedly more difficult to prepare the same case as both a prosecution and defence attorney. As a British team of 7 in our first year of mock trial, the odds were never in our favour, but we few, we happy few, we band of brothers, were not once deterred from meeting this new challenge head on. Transitioning from a case file of 10 pages to 210 pages was tough. Teaching ourselves a plethora of objections we had never encountered before was tougher, but we soldiered on. We chose to compete at Empire not because it was easy, but because it was hard.
We went to Empire for the prestige of the competition and the honour we would receive back home, but never before had our motives been so misplaced. From the moment we entered the hotel to the moment we left, it was clear that Empire was an experience unlike anything we had encountered before. It is quite rare for opponents at competitions to interact, let alone form friendships. Never have I encountered such hospitality and sportsmanship in a competitive setting. Not only were we encouraged to respect our opponents, we were also encouraged to interact and engage with them. I can honestly say that I participated wholeheartedly in the Empire mission and hope that these values can extend to other mock trial and wider public speaking competitions. In addition to the thrill of the courtroom and the opportunity to grapple with complex issues while facing outstanding opposition in the most competitive and challenging mock trial competition on the planet, Empire challenged us to broaden our minds and our technical abilities. It was my first trip to New York City, indeed the USA as a whole, and it certainly won’t be my last. Our whole team is burning to compete at a second World Championship not for the prestige of participation but for the reward of engagement. Having qualified for our second consecutive National final in Edinburgh, the thought of Empire drives our ambition and success.
I like to think that given our circumstances, we encountered moderate success at our first Empire. We held our own well and I myself was Top Attorney in two of my trials for both the prosecution and defence. However, I cannot stress enough that the greatest accolades we left with from New York City were the friendships we made and the bonds we have formed till this day. Although I went to New York to compete in the Mock Trial World Championship, my experience extended well beyond the competition itself. Empire afforded me both the chance to sharpen my legal acumen within the courtroom and to expand my horizons outside of it. It was a truly pleasant experience to compete on an international stage and share thoughts with fellow students from all around the world, the friends I made and competed against made a lasting impact on the fun I had at Empire and my love of Mock Trial as a whole!
Our mock trial team was born in London…
But it was made in New York City.
Saifullah Shah
Team Captain
Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet
