The mock trial club, also known as the Bar Association of Missouri Saint Louis (BAMSL), is one of the new additions to the clubs at school, starting just last year. Despite being fairly new, they already had their first competition on Jan. 22 at the Clayton Court House. Out of their two teams, one team won and the other lost by just a miniscule amount of points.

“The case pertained to a murder in which an actress fired a prop gun at her co-actor but, instead of being loaded with a blank, it was loaded with a real bullet,” junior Alexa McDonough said. “Blame can be placed on the prop master or the director.”

During the competition, the club is split into two different teams of three to four lawyers and three witnesses. They both prepare a case for either defense or prosecution and compete against other local teams in Missouri. The lawyers prepare a direct and cross-examination, and two of them prepare an opening and closing statement.

“Competing, for sure [is the best part of BAMSL],” McDonough said. “There’s something very satisfying about seeing all your stress and worry combine into something great.”