Club offerings have reached a new high of 22 this year. Of these, nine are student-led, also reaching a high for recent years. 

One of these is Jerry Li ‘27’s brand new competitive Mock Trial Club.

The idea for the club came to him after taking Litigation with Ken Levine last year.

“I took Mr. Levine’s class,” Li said. “It was about medical malpractice: It’s called ‘litigation’ and it triggered my thoughts on what it means to become a lawyer, and what law is about. I really wanted to dive into the topic to try myself and to expand this idea to the community and bring opportunities to Brimmer.”

His passion for law brought him to propose the club to the School.

To turn the club into a reality, he had to speak to teachers, members of the administration, and finally the Head of School to get approval. Li had to remain vigilant throughout the process. 

“It was really really tough to be honest. I had to connect and talk to Mr. Murray, Mr. Levine, Mr. Starr, and Mr. Neudel eventually.”

With encouragement and positive reactions from staff, Li’s club was approved. 

After promoting the club, Li created a small but strong team of eight members, setting up for a year focused on developing the club.

“This year we have a very high possibility that it’s a preparation year, because currently we have eight members which is not really enough and not enough time to prepare,” Li said.

Li cited the inconsistency of club blocks, which are often interrupted by assemblies, as a source of his hesitancy.

“We only have club meetings once a week, not even every week [due to assemblies],” Li said. 

However, the team is still signed up for a competition and could compete if they feel prepared.

“We just finished signing up for the competition,” Li said. “The one I’m looking [at] and we think we have the highest possibility to get involved is [the] Mass Bar High School Mock Trial Competition, offered by [the] Massachusetts Bar Institute.”

To support the team in preparing, Li needed someone to advise the club. Levine, who had founded his very own law firm at 38, was the natural choice. 

“Mr. Levine was a practiced lawyer, a practice trial lawyer, which is very helpful for the preparation for mock trial club,” Li said. “He has a lot of knowledge on medical malpractice, especially on birth injuries [which is] what he specializes in. I think his insights will help us get through this year and prepare pretty well.”

Li’s own previous experience with debate and law also helped prepare him to lead the club. 

“When I was in middle school in Shanghai… I was on a debate team for three years from sixth grade to ninth [which did] a couple mock trial cases together,” Li said. “I’m also currently doing a law related research paper outside school [with] a professor at Georgetown University, so I feel like those insights really helped me shape who I am right now and my interest toward law.”

After a successful first meeting, Li feels good.

“[The meeting] was pretty good,” Li said. “We reviewed the protocols in a real trial and how it will go and the procedures [of] litigation. And also I talked a little bit about real debating skills: I gave them my theory on how you differ from facts and arguments.”

With more meetings to come, according to Li, the club is ready to grow every week.