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The preparation for each competition is rigorous. Each team practices for at least six weeks before a competition. “The schedule calls for practice sessions four or five days a week, with each practice lasting three or four hours,” according to Wharton, who, along with Hillan, puts in a 60-hour work week during training.

The marathon workouts aside, a mock trial competition is definitely more intense than other law school competitions, says Wharton. “In a mock trial competition, arguments take as long as three-and-a-half hours compared to the thirty minutes typical in moot court. Moreover, during the competition you have to win six trials in three days to win the tournament.”

The team’s attention to both form and substance has not gone unnoticed. Wharton says that officials have approached him at the competitions to say how impressed they are about the caliber of the USD team. “Almost all of the judges remark that 80 percent of our presentations are superior to that which they ordinarily hear in court from experienced trial lawyers.”

Hillan also points out that in a recent Student Bar Association job survey revealed that membership on the trial team is by far the best indicator of 2L job placement – greater than law review, journal contributions, or participation in any other program.