Round one of the Penn State Mock Trial Association's cases came to a halt last night, bringing to a close two nights and five separate courtrooms filled with tense student lawyers and witnesses.

In the civil case presented, each side was made up of three lawyers and three witnesses, with two senior mock trial members presiding as judges.

"I love litigation and the courtroom, although it [mock trial] doesn't always mimic it exactly," Cornelius Cornelssen, a mock trial member, said.

In a typical mock trial case, participants, or "mockers," have been assigned roles to play and have studied all of the information about their case. Students present the case as if it were real, from opening statements and examination of witnesses to closing arguments. Mockers are awarded points for how well they perform their role in the trial.

"A side can win the verdict and still lose," Mock Trial Association President Justin Holmes said.

While student attorneys focus on making their case, student witnesses must play more the role of actor.

"Witnesses have to be good at spinning for their side, but can't advocate it too much," Cornelssen said.

Penn State has the largest mock trial club in the country, with more than 100 members.

"Other schools are surprised at how many people we have," he said.

In the fall, mock trial participates in an intramural-type league, which is something that makes Penn State stand out. "We are one of the only [mock trial] clubs to do that," Holmes said.

The intramural competition allows more club members to participate.

"With 10 teams in the fall, we have the opportunity to let more people be involved, which is something other clubs lack," Holmes said.

He added that it also gives mockers more experience in a courtroom setting and with the case before competing on a regional level.

"By the time we go to tournaments, we've been doing the case for a whole semester," Cornelssen said.

Mockers compete at regionals to qualify for the national tournament, where Penn State ranked 46th out of 500 teams last year.

Cornelssen is playing the role of an attorney this year, although he won an All-American award for his portrayal of a witness in a past case.

For the past seven years, interest in Mock Trial has been on and off, Holmes said. "The year before I came, about four years ago, it really began to thrive," he said.

He said membership really took off, going from less than 20 members to 110 in just four years.

Club member Jane Richardson said she started going to mock trial because people she hung out with did. "I didn't think I would like it, but I did, so I stuck around," she said.

Richardson said she likes outsmarting her opponents. "The best part is getting to make other people look like fools," she said.

Because Cornelssen wants to be a lawyer, he said he likes the help that mock trial gives him in understanding the basic procedures of a courtroom.

"Sometimes real attorneys judge the trials, so it's helpful to get feedback from them," he said.