The Fury

While I don't have any pictures to post (yet), I have been instructed to inform all of you that over this last weekend my trial team took second place over all in the 2009 Zhemer Mock Trial Competition. The competition took place over two days with nine teams from Law schools all over Florida. The favorite was the team from Stetson Law School in Tampa, which had been considered the dominant mock trial team for over 20 years. That is until we dominated them during the first round and squashed their second team in the quarterfinals to move us on to the final round. The competition was set up so that each team had to be both the Plaintiff (the person suing) and the Defendant (the one being sued). I was one of the Plaintiff's lawyers and two other teammates were the advocates for the Defendant. The first day of the competition each team competed once as Plaintiffs and once as Defendants and the scores were combined to determine which 4 of the 9 teams would move on to the second day's Quarterfinal round. After the first day, our team tied for fourth place and had to participate in a "Sudden Death Match" consisting of our Defense Closing argument going head to head with another team's Defense closing argument the first thing Sunday morning. We won the Sudden Death Match and were immediately thrown into the Second day's Quarterfinal match which began 5 Minutes later.

The Quarterfinals consisted of only one trial (with each team being chosen at random to do either Plaintiff or Defendant) and the winner of that trial moved on to the Championship match. At this point we had already proven ourselves better than one of the University of Miami teams, the FSU team, one Stetson team, and one St. Thomas team (and one of our own teams fell to wounds they had received in battle). We were picked at random to do the Plaintiff's case in the Quarterfinal round. They pitted us against the team that had placed 1st in points the day before (the other Stetson team) in an effort to move that 1st place team into the final match to make it as competitive as possible.

However, they miscalculated the power of the FIU Panthers . . . and grossly underestimated the fury of the Fuller.

The Battle Commences

I fired the first shot, an Opening Statement cannon-ball-tirade that shredded their forces and sent their men scattering for cover. Medusa raged within herself (one of their advocates was a girl) and began to fire forth objections that the Lord of War (the Judge) rejected as petty and flawed. However, they were able to recover somewhat and fire back with an Opening Statement barrage of their own. Then the slaughter commenced and the two sides clashed in a glorious battle of blood and wits. The Dragon's General's (the other side's lawyers) soon began to feel their artillery falling short of the mark and their forces became disorganized while the Dragon gasped for air and accused us of cheating. I arose from my seat and cast the jury out of the room while I alone dueled with both of the opponent's Generals and the Lord of the War himself (good odds for any Haring!). And while the Lord of War gave a breath of fire that scourged my armor, the fury of my arguments caused the Lord to only siphon 5 of our points. (Our witness had gotten confused on cross examination and testified to something outside the fact pattern....he was forced to admit his mistake, and we lost five precious points, but I was able to argue them out of saying that we were actually cheating - just that the witness had been confused). Wounded, but not yet defeated, we pressed forward and the battle raged on, both sides taking on a mounting number of casualties. But with the closing arguments within sight, we smelled their fear and moved in for the kill.

Closing Arguments

Once again, we blasted the Dragon's forces with a furious bayonet charge right up their center, laying waste to all who opposed us. Then the Dragon arose and regrouped and returned fire with an Opposing Argument of their own that decimated many of our men and sent many arguments to meet their Maker. In a last Rebuttal Argument, my Co-Counsel flipped their guns against them and used them to blast away their remaining forces.

The battle had lasted an unheard-of three and a half hours. The jury returned their verdict. The scoring had come to a perfect tie in points. The decision came down a mere splitting of hairs. The battlefield still smoking, and men still crying out their dying words, we were announced victorious by a preference vote of the judges of 2 to 1 in our favor. In a battle of epic proportions, we had slain the great Dragon! And the FIU Panthers feasted on their remains. (We then moved on to the Championship match versus St. Thomas University. We were randomly selected to play as the Defendant, so I didn't participate in the final match because I was the Plaintiff's side lawyer.)

The Last Stand

The competition was fierce. One of their generals was visibly battled-scarred and was left with one GLASS EYE. Their experience in battle was obvious against our novice Defense Generals. With only one previous battle under their belts from the previous day, they moved into position and took up their arms. The opponents fired first, thinning our ranks as men were laid to waste under a hail of fire and brimstone. We returned fire with equal fury and determination. Our shots landed true and set their defenses in a blaze that could be seen for miles around. One well-placed blast of heated argument lasted 15 minutes and almost took out the scarred General's other eye. Finally, closing arguments were offered and the jury was left with nothing more than a wasteland of mutilated facts and inferences from those facts to determine their verdict.

Alas, our heroes had finally fallen. We had at long last found an opponent worthy enough to defeat us, and we were put to rest in a glorious burst of fire and lightening. Even though we were all Soldiers and Generals that until these past two days of glorious conflict, had never seen the fury of the battlefield, our fight was as fierce and our courage as true as all those who had opposed us. We had battled and defeated many of the greatest teams in all of the land, and in a great slaughter of man and beast, we had destroyed the Dragon himself. Our victories were sweet, and our defeat held no bitterness, as the glory of the battle and the scars of greatness will be remembered with fondness for the rest of our lives. And someday, when the stakes are high and the winds of chance blow in my favor, I will meet the St. Thomas advocates again when I can participate in the battle, and then they will feel the fury . . . . the fury of the Fuller.

We took second place overall - an FIU first - and we were honored to compete in the championship matchup. While we may not have won, we fought a great fight and had a great time!!

Fuller