A group of students at Covenant Classical School in Fort Worth have advanced to the national finals of a mock trial competition. I dropped in on one of their practice rounds before they left because you can never be too prepared for the day you wind up defending yourself in court.

Their coaches are a judge in the fightin’ 352nd District Court and several real-life lawyers, although I suspect they do not introduce themselves as “real-life lawyers” in the courtroom.

But that’s why I was there: to learn.

The group had successfully argued through ten rounds at the local and state level. They’re now arguing five more rounds in the national competition in Little Rock.

They’ve spent weeks getting ready for the national competition, and they’ve been working together since the end of last summer.

I wandered into their practice and heard them talking about things that sounded very lawyerly.

This led to me comparing everything they did to movies and TV shows I had seen.

For example, they told one of the students to just ask the question instead of prefacing it with, “Just one more time” because that would cause opposing council to perk up and say, “No, the guy already answered that.”

Naturally, I started thinking of the work of Columbo.

“So what you’re saying is real-life investigations don’t involve a street-smart, ragged detective who’s rough around the edges but scores a conviction within an hour while also going through a divorce?!”

They did get into the theatrics of a trial, though, which included making sure you wear a watch so you let the jury know you’re aware a witness is getting paid to testify.

I use a watch for theatrics, too. An associate who works for Fossil has given me a couple nice watches. I’ve never replaced the battery in either, so they’ve stopped running, but I still wear them for formal occasions.

Now I know if I’m ever with a district court judge not to look at the time on my phone because that gives away my watch is just there to make me look classy.

I also find myself frequently without a pen. That’s an inconvenience if I have to sign a form, but if I was always carrying a pen, I’d be able to point out the trajectory of bullets if it ever came up.

The judge says mock trials help kids think on their feet. Regardless of which field they pursue, the ability to have conversations and react to changing conditions will help them.

And that’s good because none of the students I talked to is planning to go to law school. They agree critical thinking skills will help them in any field.

One of the students did say rubbing elbows with Perry Mason and Matlock does have him rethinking his post-high school plans.

He may not have actually mentioned Perry Mason or Matlock. Some of us are just a bit older but can still learn from mock trial competitions. For instance, Matlock showed us I would make an excellent lawyer because arguing is a skill the Lord blessed me with.

In real life, though, it might not work out because they didn’t show how much research Matlock had to do to prepare him to argue.