From left to right: Lucy Huang, Sunzida Ahmed, Alice Militaru, Emmett Laurie, Zoe Chang, Humayoon Hashmi, Aabha Joshi, Shivangi Patel
On November 2nd and 3rd, the Rutgers University Mock Trial Association (“RUMTA”) competed at the Tufts University’s Mumbo Jumbo Tournament located in Medford, Massachusetts. RUMTA’s A-Team, won 3rd place out of a field of 20 competitive teams including Yale University, New York University, and Harvard University. The A-Team had a record of 6 wins and 2 losses competing against Yale University, Wesleyan University, Penn State University, and Brown University. Captain Zoe Chang and competitor Sunzida Ahmed, won Outstanding Attorney awards with 18 ranks and 17 ranks respectively.
This past weekend, on November 9th and 10th, RUMTA’s B Team competed at Haverford College’s Black Squirrel Invitational in Philadelphia, competing against teams from New York University, Penn State University, Haverford College, and Tufts University. At Haverford, senior and B-Team Captain Ryan Ruffin earned 18 ranks to win an Outstanding Attorney award on prosecution. B-Team’s final record was 2 wins and 6 losses.
“We’ve improved significantly even in a short span of 3-weeks between our first and second tournament” commented A-Team’s Chang. “Our practice and hard work showed during this tournament” B-Team’s Ruffin, said, “I am so proud of my team, we had some of our new members being an attorney for the first time and they killed it!”.
In each of the two competitions, RUMTA’s teams argued State of Midlands v. Jordan Ryder, a criminal case pursuing an involuntary manslaughter or aggravated murder charge, involving a parent accused of the death of their daughter. All three of RUMTA’s teams will continue to compete throughout the fall semester at invitationals in preparation for the first rounds of the national intercollegiate competition in February 2020. In 2012, Rutgers A-Team finished number two in the nation out of 650 teams and in 2018 Rutgers A-Team finished fifteenth in the nation out of 650 teams. The goal this year is to go to the National Championship Tournament and capture the top spot.
RUMTA thanks Head Coach Michael Roberts of Roberts & Teeter, and Assistant Coaches Bren Simonson, Esq. and Caroline Bielak, Esq. RUMTA is sponsored by Middlesex County Bar Foundation and the Rutgers Alumni Association.