San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Mock Trials

Four law schools compete in two simultaneous mock trial sessions in the morning and afternoon reported by high-speed court reporting student apprentices whose main task is to speak up for the record in order to produce rough drafts.

Unlike traditional internships, where a reporting student shadows a working reporter, my apprentices learn how to be THE REPORTER: They speak up as often as needed to get the best record they can, mark exhibits, and produce rough draft transcripts.

APPRENTICESHIP DETAILS
— October 29, 2022
— 8:30-12:30 and 1:30-5:30
— Four reporters for two simultaneous mock trials, AM & PM
— Rough drafts to be provided for each trial

WHAT YOU LEARN
— How to state your Reporter’s Admonition
— How and when to speak up for the record
— How to create and produce rough drafts
— Time and information management
— Professional comportment

EXPERT SUPPORT/MATERIALS
— Case file and exhibits
— Participants’ names
— Sample transcript templates
— Practice sessions
— One-on-one transcript reviews

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE
These opportunities are for serious, motivated, and reliable steno and voice reporting students writing 180+ wpm and newly licensed reporters wanting trial practice.

These mock events are win-win opportunities for all participants:

•Law students and lawyers benefit from a reporter interrupting them to ensure the integrity of the record when they mumble, speak too fast, or talk over one another. Later, by reading my apprentices’ rough drafts, they learn how to improve their questioning and defending skills and future performance.

•Reporting students and new reporters learn to manage fear, nervousness, and anxiety; how and when to interrupt; develop self-confidence; and immediately utilize the lessons from these extra-curricular practical skills events in their training and career.

Visit my Mock Woman Apprenticeships site for more information.

With years of experience in the field, Ana is a fountain of information and sage advice. She has seen the gamut of court reporting brilliance and blunders and has made it her mission to bestow her knowledge onto court reporting students. As an advocate for court reporters, Ana instills in her mentees a sense of pride in and awareness about the profession and is shaping the newest members of the workforce to be capable, professional, and informed.

As an apprentice at several mock depositions at BerkeleyLaw and San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association’s mock trial in 2015, I learned speaking up is valuable because it places in your hands the weight of importance of maintaining the integrity of the record. It’s not your pride or your reputation you have to watch out for; it’s the integrity of the record. There is no better place to practice this important skill than in mock apprenticeships.

~ Katherine Schilling, RPR, Ca CSR 14163