How Do I Get Involved?

Any law student may become involved in the Trial Advocacy Association by serving as a witness, bailiff or law clerk for a Trial Advocacy Association sponsored competition. Students may also volunteer to serve as a witness or jury member for one of the Trial Advocacy or Advanced Trial Advocacy courses. Students registered in these courses will often send around emails requesting volunteers, but students are always encouraged to reach out to the professors for those courses to see how whether there are any opportunities to volunteer for the course.

Witness

Students who serve as witnesses for one of the Trial Advocacy Association sponsored competitions will be assigned a specific character for the competition. The student will be provided with a short deposition for their assigned character and will be expected to become familiar with that deposition. During the competition, the student will be called as a witness for one of the competing teams. The witness will be asked questions by both teams through a direct and cross-examination. Students serving as witnesses are encouraged to get into the character that they are assigned.

Bailiff

Students who serve as a bailiff for one of the Trial Advocacy Association sponsored competitions will keep time for one of the competition rooms. Bailiffs will be provided a time keeping sheet with instructions and a stopwatch. Additionally, the Bailiff will be responsible for gathering the judges’ score sheets at the end of the trial and delivering those score sheets to the Executive Board.