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CHS Mock Trial Members Audition to Earn a Chance to Compete in Court

Students auditioned to earn a spot on one of CHS’s two mock trial teams.

News

By Elijah Makman-Levinson, News Editor

November 19, 2025

Alden Koschmann

Ani Ledbetter auditions as a lawyer in front of the audition panel.

In the town of East Superior, Michigan, you’ll find the tallest building in the entire state, the 30-story East Superior Residential Tower. After construction, an architectural student discovered that the tower’s unique “elevated column” design was highly vulnerable to quartering winds. And before you know it, the building’s Homeowner Association joined with the property owner in filing suit and alleging negligence.

Is the design and construction of the East Superior Residential Tower an alarming safety hazard, or are all risks just theoretical? This is the fictional civil case that high school students across the state of Michigan will fight over in the 2026 Michigan High School Mock Trial competition, the competition for which CHS students auditioned to earn the chance to compete.

Nov. 17, Nov. 19 and Nov. 24 marked the dates of mock trial auditions for the 2025-26 season. Students who earn a spot on one of CHS’s two teams, A Team and B Team, will compete in a regional competition on Feb. 21 at the Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, Michigan. Each team contains 12 people, with six people acting as witnesses and six people acting as lawyers. Each team has three witnesses and three lawyers representing the plaintiff and the defense, respectively. Thus, only 24 of the over 35 people who auditioned will earn a chance to compete.

Students auditioned in front of social studies teacher and Mock Trial coach Chloe Root, the other mock trial coaches and the mock trial senior captains. To try out, students were required to prepare a solo witness audition, a solo lawyer audition or a partner audition in advance.

Mock Trial Audition Choices

Witness Auditions

Performing a solo witness audition required students to learn and become familiar with one of the six witnesses’ testimonies for this case. During the witness audition, students were asked a number of questions, both open-ended and leading, about their witness by the audition panel. The witness audition required students to spin the facts of their character in a way that supports the side of the case their witness represents. Students were also encouraged to craft a particular persona that matches how their witness might act.

Freshman Emmi Hakala auditioned as the witness Dr. Ash Forrester, a structural engineer representing the defense, who argues that the East Superior Residential Tower is safe. Hakala felt very overwhelmed prior to her audition because she had to learn every different fact of her affidavit and find ways to make each fact support the defense side of the case.

“When you’re witnessing, the most important things are to know all the information about your witness and to play your character in a way that seems believable and how your witness would act,” Hakala said. “Ash Forrester seems to be pretty professional, so I tried to use fancy words and act serious.”

Lawyer Auditions

Trying out for a lawyer also required students to perform a witness audition. However, after the witness portion of the audition, students trying out as lawyers were asked to give a brief outline of their theory of the case from the perspective of either the plaintiff or the defense. Students didn’t find out which side of the case they would have to discuss until their audition, so they had to prepare each side well enough to give a well-reasoned explanation of the type of information they wanted to bring to the jury. The goal of the witness portion of the audition was to demonstrate students’ ability to think on their feet, and the purpose of the other part of the audition was to demonstrate students’ ability to think critically.

Junior Eli Feng auditioned as the lawyer for Whitley Carter, a retired city building inspector, for the defense, who initially inspected the East Superior Residential Tower and found no code violations or structural deficiencies. Feng felt extremely nervous prior to his audition, but he still felt confident that he had an interesting theme and performed to the best of his abilities.

“I gave the audition panel my best piece,” Feng said. “I think I responded pretty well to all the questions they asked me.”

This was Feng’s second year auditioning to earn a spot on a mock trial team; last year, he auditioned as a witness. Feng witnessed during Michigan’s regional competition last year, but after lawyering during the spring and fall Empire Mock Trial competitions, he decided to try out as a lawyer this year. Feng felt so much more prepared for this audition than his audition last year.

“I’ve had so much experience with mock trial since I first auditioned,” Feng said. “Now, I feel like I’m into the thick weeds of mock trial. Last year, I was just dipping my toes into the lake of mock trial, but now, I’m swimming laps in it.”

Pair Auditions

Performing a partner audition required students to form pairs, with one partner acting as a witness and the other partner acting as the lawyer for the witness. First, the lawyer had to act as the directing attorney for the witness, asking the witness open-ended questions to allow their witness to tell their story. Next, the lawyer had to act as the cross-examining attorney for the witness, posing leading questions to the witness that would challenge their credibility and highlight inconsistencies within their statement. Only returning members of the mock trial community could perform a partner audition.

Juniors Willow Rosenfeld and Walker Ledbetter performed a partner audition. Rosenfeld testified as Dr. Rowan Hightower, a structural engineer representing the plaintiff who had raised concerns about the East Superior Residential Tower. Ledbetter conducted a direct and cross-examination of Rosenfeld.

“It was really fun to do a partner audition,” Rosenfeld said. “It’s a lot less scary than being alone because you have somebody else there going through it with you and supporting you. It’s also cool because, as a witness, you get to show how you would actually act when questioned on the stand by a real person.”

Now that auditions are over, the senior captains and coaches are determining who will make a spot on one of the competing teams. Following the release of who made a competing team, a long journey of objections, witness examinations and theory development awaits all the members of CHS’s mock trial teams as they get ready to go to court to litigate East Superior Residential HOA vs. Apex Structural Engineering, Inc, and Metro Builders, LLC.

About the Contributor

Elijah Makman-Levinson, News Editor

Elijah Makman-Levinson is a senior, and he is the news editor for The Communicator! He loves all parts of journalism: interviewing people to learn their stories, writing articles, and the feeling of pride when you get to see your work published. Outside of school, he can be found playing the piano, playing the clarinet, listening to music, or thinking about deep philosophical questions. He loves so many random things, such as ethics, zodiac signs, and taro milk tea. He is so excited for all the madness and excitement which will go on in Room 300 this year!