Donate and Help Charlotte’s Mock Trial Club Compete Nationally
Help UNC Charlotte’s Mock Trial members enhance their public speaking, critical thinking skills and further their legal careers to compete against top-notch mock trial clubs leading up to the Southeast regional tournament in the spring.
“I joined mock trial during my freshman year after overhearing someone in one of my classes talking about it,” said Colin Coleman. “I have met most of my best friends through the group, along with people outside of engineering.”
UNC Charlotte’s Mock Trial Club has served as a home for students who have a passion for the legal field, those who aim to be future lawyers, and those who just like to act. The Mock Trial club teaches students litigation, public speaking, analytics, and case-building skills through role-playing a case every year. The club travels around the country to litigate against other universities in the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA).
This year the club is litigating Shannon Shahid v. Taylor Hopson, a fictional civil case dealing with the mysterious death of businessperson and millionaire Avery Bancroft, and the resulting fight for their inheritance. On April 25, 2024, infamous Midlands millionaire Avery Bancroft died while aboard the Mid-Riverina Express (the “MRE”). Bancroft had two children: Taylor Hopson and Shannon Shahid (Hopson’s younger half-sibling). According to Bancroft’s will, Hopson—who was also aboard the MRE when Bancroft died—would inherit most of Bancroft’s estate. Shahid has brought forward a Slayer Statute proceeding, alleging Hopson caused Bancroft’s death and therefore cannot inherit any of Bancroft’s estate.
Mock Trial’s goal has always been to make it to the American Mock Trial Association’s National Competition. Universities that make it to the national level create some of the finest lawyers due to the skills students develop to make it that far in the yearly competition. Unfortunately, a big part of making it to national competitions is having the money to attend that and other competitions to prepare for regionals. Most nationally competing universities have large amounts of funding in their programs that skew the playing field against newer teams.
Donate today to help UNC Charlotte’s Mock Trial club enhance public speaking, critical thinking skills, and further member legal careers, as they compete against top-notch mock trial clubs from around the country.