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In all, nine Foresters competed as attorneys and witnesses in the regional competition held at the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton, Illinois, February 23–25.

Students competed in four trials—two as prosecution and two as defense—against regional schools including the University of Chicago, University of Notre Dame, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Michigan State University, Drake University, Lewis University, and Elmhurst University. 

Competing for Lake Forest were: 

• Team captains: Melina Pineda ’25 and Daniel Leuchtenberger ’26
• Attorneys: Nathanial Henry ’26 and Thomas Carberry ’26
• Witnesses: Finnian Harrison ’27, Jake Sharifi ’24, Liliana Alcantara ’24, Valerie Flores ’25, Jasmine Rivera-Roman ’25

The Lake Forest mock trial team is coached by Assistant Professor of Politics and Chair of Legal Studies Stephanie Caparelli.

“Participating in a mock trial competition is a serious academic feat. These students worked extremely hard to put together defense and prosecution strategies for a rather complex criminal case involving co-defendants, multiple charges, and affirmative defenses. I am so proud of the extremely hard work this team put in to this,” Caparelli said.

Mock trial will be offered as a course next year, which will reward students with course credit for undertaking this work. 

The American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) provides a forum for over 7,300 undergraduate students each academic year to engage in intercollegiate mock trial competitions across the country. Each year, AMTA hosts over 700 mock trial teams from approximately 400 US universities and colleges. 

Related Links

• Explore the Legal Studies Program
• Meet Chair of Legal Studies Stephanie Caparelli
• Check out the American Mock Trial Association