Whiz Kids of the Week: Tam Mock Trial Team (Again)

Whiz Kids of the Week: The Tam High Mock Trial Team. Tam's prosecution team featured pretrial motion attorney Oliver Ramin, prosecution attorneys Lindsey Sloan and Madeleine Ball, along with prosecution witnesses Hannah Holiday, Mark Hill, Alexis Agoustari, Elena Ricciardi, and clerk Sophie Danielson. The defense was anchored by pretrial motion attorney Jack Budish and defense attorneys Claudia Shapiro, Ivy Ryan and Brett Russell. It also includes defense witnesses Sander Lutz, Anna Lipman, Thibault de Saint Phalle and Rachel Ferm. The team is led by teacher coach Michael Krause and attorney coaches David Vogelstein, Dorothy Proudfoot and Sara Leger.

Accomplishment: A month after winning the Marin County Mock Trial Championship for the 16th year in a row Saturday afternoon, Tam garnered fourth place at the state finals in Riverside. Tam was defeated in the semifinal round by La Reina High School of Thousand Oaks, Calif., by a margin of just 6 points. La Reina went on to win the State Championship and will represent California in the National Mock Trial Championships slated for early May in Phoenix, Arizona.

The teams squared off in the case of People vs. Woodson, and the charges were assaulting a middle school student with a deadly weapon and with violating a new anti-bullying and cyber-bullying statute. The judge in the semifinal round called the match between Tam’s prosecution and La Reina’s defense a "championship caliber match."

In addition to the team's success, sophomore Anna Lipman was awarded Best Defense Witness for her role as middle school bully Madison Jackson (aka "Mad Jack.")   

Key to Awesomeness: The Mock Trial program at Tam has been dominant for nearly two decades, and its coaches continue to develop passionate, bright students who have managed to maintain an amazing level of excellence. According to Lee Budish, mother of Jack Budish, the team's pretrial motion attorney, "those of us in the courtroom were in awe of the poise, discipline, knowledge and passion for the law and the constitution of all the participants.

To watch a video feature on the Tam High mock trial team,  or see the attached video.