Marquette Law students and undergraduates with an interest in law each have an opportunity to mix their interest with a little bit of acting.

Undergraduates can take ARSC 60: Introduction to Trial Advocacy. Although few students have probably heard of it, it's not the typical lecture — it is the university's mock trial team.

Mock trial is a law competition between two teams.

"It's like competitive acting and improv all at the same time," said member and College of Arts & Sciences senior Robert Zalud.

The team members take on the roles of attorneys and witnesses. They research laws, old case records and court decisions to hone their arguments. In competition, the team argues its case against other college teams before two lawyers who act as judges.

Marquette's team placed third in a regional competition held in Lalumiere Hall the weekend of Feb. 12 and 13.

In the first round, the team lost to the University of Wisconsin, but recovered by winning its next two rounds. In the final round, it beat the University of Iowa, the defending national champions.

It was a closely contested tournament.

"They had to break it down to many different tiebreakers," said team member Andrew Hofland, a College of Arts & Sciences junior.

"They went to strength of teams played, and then they even went to strength of win."

With the win, Marquette advanced to Gold Nationals in Dubuque, Iowa. Gold is the highest level of nationals. Below that is Silver Nationals, a consolation tournament. Marquette has advanced to Gold Nationals two of the last three years.

Any student can sign up for ARSC 60 and join the team.

"I think it's very valuable going into law school," said Margaret Johnson, the team's coach and an alumna of Marquette and its law school.

Once in law school, students have another chance to act out their chosen profession through moot court teams, which deal with appeals court cases.

The teams are called moot because the cases are fictional.

"The fact scenario is created for the purpose of demonstrating argumentative skills. The outcome of the case is moot," said Garet Galster, a member of the trademark law team and second-year law student.

There are about a dozen categories of moot court teams, ranging from medical law to intellectual property rights. Each team is comprised of four members, according to third-year law student Andrew Rossmeissl, one of the team's coaches. The team is also coached by assistant professor Irene Calboli.

The team receives a case and composes a 30-page brief explaining the opposing positions. In competition, oral advocates argue one side of the case, then go to a different set of judges and argue the other. Scores are based on the strength of oral arguments.

Every year, students from Marquette's Law School compete for spots on one of the moot court teams. One of the most successful teams has been the trademark law team.

At the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition Feb. 19, the team's oral advocates, Galster and second-year law student Jacob Short, argued their way to first place in the Midwest division. They defeated 20 teams in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals courthouse in Chicago.

With the win, the team advanced to national competition for the third consecutive season.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 3 2005.