In only its first year competing, and its second as a club, the Mock Trial Club at the UW has already made a name for itself.

This weekend in Portland, Ore., the team qualified for The American Mock Trial Association Nationals after ranking fifth out of 22 teams. In the opening round of nationals in Irvine, Calif., the team must finish in the top six to advance to the next round in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Just the fact that we’re a first-year program and we got out of regionals is awesome,” said Russell Pharr, a UW mock trial officer.

Pharr said the team is excited to compete in Irvine but hasn’t set any goals yet when it comes to competing at nationals.

“It would be incredible if we qualified,” Pharr said. “But we’re not going down there with any really specific goals.”

In their first tournament in Spokane in January, the group beat out teams from Central Washington University and Washington State University — a win Pharr said the Cougars weren’t too happy about, considering their team is much more established than the UW’s young squad.

The club consists of eight members, seven of whom are on the competing team. This year, they have been busy studying a fictitious defamation case regarding libelous comments made about a candidate for governor. The American Mock Trial Association assigns the cases, and the competitions are executed like actual trials, with students adhering to same rules of evidence and etiquette.

“Preparing for a case involves a lot of things,” Pharr said. “Each side has to prepare witness direct- and cross-examinations, be very familiar with the law and how it applies to nuances in the cases and has to prepare opening and closing statements. Practices can be somewhat tedious; it’s a lot of repetition and making small changes to things.”

Club Vice President and Treasurer Nick Crown has worked as both a prosecuting and defense attorney for the team this year. Crown admits that preparing statements can be strenuous work, but believes the thrills of the courtroom make it all worthwhile.

“Mock trial is a battle of wit,” he said. “Knowing that each round of competition is going to be unique and provide an addictive adrenaline rush makes for an incomparable experience.”

Club President and founder Cory Potts agrees.

“When you first stand up in front of the judge, the feeling is exhilaration,” he said.

One of Potts’ favorite mock-trial memories involves “a very mean-looking Gonzaga witness who wore an assault rifle pin on his suit lapel and would pull his chin really tight into his neck any time an attorney made an objection and squint at him.”

Potts started the club after transferring to the UW in 2007. He said participating with the team has given him the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people and develop strong relationships.

Potts enjoys watching the drama unravel.

“Mock trial is very theatrical, but at the same time, people are very serious about it,” he said. “That’s a little silly to me — to get over 2,000 college kids to play a big game together, in suits and ties and with evidence.”

But the club isn’t popular just for its entertainment value; officers say that being in mock trial has developed their public speaking skills and has provided them with a new sense of confidence.

It also never hurts to list mock trial participation on a law school application, Pharr said.

The team was not planning to compete in the spring, but now, with their competition coming up in Irvine, they must raise an additional $1,000 to help pay for travel and registration costs.

Crown said the team had initially received some private donations from members, professors and corporations such as Microsoft, but they exhausted all of that money on their first two tournaments. As long as the team keeps winning, they will have to continue to come up with more money to pay for competition.

“A lot of students will end up paying their own way,” Crown said.

When new cases are distributed in fall 2009, Potts said the UW group will begin its prep work immediately and may have the opportunity to host the regional tournament next year.

Reach reporter Katie McVicker at news@dailyuw.com.