The exceptional Normal West mock trial team led by their coach Dr. John Bierbaum, continued to make history in downstate Illinois, being only the third time a mock trial team from the area made it to state finals, and the second time in the last 3 years West had made it to state. 

This year, Normal West finished in 3rd place and represented the area extremely well, which as Bierbaum notes, is becoming a “point of pride” for the team

“You know anytime that we could have some success, it makes a season that much more worthwhile, but it is a certain point of pride for us since the Illinois State Bar Association started Mock Trials in the early 90s, there’s only been three teams ever to make it to finals in downstate, and Normal West is one of those teams and we’ve done it twice in the past 3 years,” Bierbaum said. 

The team dealt with their fair share of challenges, with a huge workload and  some inexperienced members, but in the end, they saw huge growth through exceeding those very challenges and then some. 

“Like any other team activity where you have a lot of students to start at one place at the beginning of the season, we got a complicated case about a drug related party in which a kid ended up in a coma. So it was a very technical case about medical conditions, and… the challenge [was] starting at point A in the season and need[ing] to get to point Z at the end of the season.

“We had some younger trial members who didn’t have a lot of experience with objections, and so this season, the big challenge was growth and a big success was the growth,” Bierbaum added. 

A big factor that helped the team be so successful and hit their stride at just the right time, was the fantastic senior leadership from Benedicte Diamonika, Bailey Vaux, Belle Phillips, Austin Miller, Lena Ganschow, and Isabella Gilbert. 

“Any good team has to have the right team chemistry, and we have to be able to peek at the right time. Early in the season, you always have a really complicated case and it kind of feels like you’re endlessly drafting and revising.

“Somewhere about ¾ of the way through the season which is the month of February, we hit a groove and started peeking. We had incredible senior leadership which helps out tremendously. Several of our witness attorneys started becoming award winning at each tournament, and we kind of knew…that we [were] hitting our groove and that’s really important to do at the right time,” Bierbaum noted. 

Mock trials require hours of commitment, long practices, huge cases, and much more.

Bierbaum pointed out the amount of hard work the team put in throughout the season that led to them having such a successful year.

“At the beginning of the year, we get a 75 page case and the students have to put together the entire thing. They write all the parts, the witnesses, the testimony. They do the opening, the closing, and have to learn all the objections, and so when you look at our finished product in March, it is hard to realize unless you’ve been on a team, how much work goes into that. It is a multi month process to get a finished product in March, and so it’s behind the scenes and something that most people would not have a really good appreciation for,” Bierbaum stated.

Bierbaum thinks that the Varsity team’s success can be easily replicated going into next year’s season.

The other two  talented mock trial teams, who put in a lot of hard work and dedication this year will be ready to fill the shoes of this year’s seniors. 

“We have two other competition teams as part of our program, and they also are really really really dedicated to developing themselves in the better [with] more trials. I’d like to think that this year’s success is going to spread to next year, and I hope that they have great leaders on the team because it helps all the underclassmen to have a little bit of a bar for competition, and so it helps us out for years to come,” Bierbaum noted. 

There’s much more to mock trial than just trying to win a case, there’s plenty of skills involved that can help you everyday in your life, such as public speaking and creating a good argument.

“Mock trial is not so much about the whole courtroom thing. It’s more about public speaking. It’s more about taking a lot of information and crafting a concise, effective argument. It’s being able to be in a situation with another team and thinking on your feet as you have questions being asked of you by a judge or an opposing counsel.

“So, these are all things that I hope that the students take away from and also be able to work as a team. There’s so many things going on with the team in terms of creating roles and competing the simply you’re working together to try to formulate a bigger good, and… and I think that’s a key take away from something like my trial activity like my trial,” Bierbaum said.

Many of the team members would echo these life skills they’ve acquired from their experience with Mock Trial.

In fact, senior Benedicte Diamonika, plans on using her skills and knowledge she learned from mock trial to help her in her college career, and eventually later on in her life.

“I’m minoring in pre-law, and so I’m gonna’ use it so further my career, and plus I’m going into healthcare administration. So, I have to know a lot of laws and rules of the healthcare system field, [and] I think mock [trial] has really built my knowledge on law and general and how to handle the criminal and criminal and civil cases,” Diamonika said. 

“It’s special when the seniors are all at their best and you are able to achieve something like a state placement and that’s hard to replicate, and and so, the seniors kind of is a huge part that will make 2025 very special,” Bierbaum concluded.

Overall, the Normal West Mock Trial team made history this year and look towards a bright future in the years to come.