Paly’s Mock Trial team finished its season after dropping in quarterfinals at the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s Santa Clara County competition on Monday.

The team achieved a record of 3-1 in the tournament, with two wins from the defense team in its first two preliminary rounds, according to the tournament’s Web site. The prosecution team won its fourth preliminary round, but lost to Archbishop Mitty High School after a tiebreaker in the third preliminary round. In quarterfinals, the prosecution team lost to Prospect High School.

In this year’s trial case, the defendant, Leslie Lane, was charged with arson and inciting to riot. The preliminary rounds were held from Feb. 3-11, and quarterfinals were held on Feb. 23.

Although the team was ultimately unable to advance to the finals as it had hoped, senior team captain Yelly Bitton is impressed with its efforts in the competition.

“We didn’t go as far this year, but the thing is our team is going through tons of things right now,” Bitton said. “I really couldn’t be more proud about how things turned out.”

Bitton attributes the team’s success to a strong effort from all members of the team, as well as a new change in the team’s preparation strategy.

“We started practicing a lot earlier this year, and we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we did without doing that,” Bitton said.

In addition, the team recruited several new members to the team, according to Bitton.

“We held trials in the beginning of the [school] year,” Bitton said. “A lot of it [recruitment] was through word of mouth, and bringing in people who we thought might be good, or might be interested.”

Senior George Kadifa, the team’s pretrial attorney for prosecution, is proud of the team’s vast improvement throughout the season.

“What was amazing about this year is the amount we improved,” Kadifa said. “When we first started the season, we were all sort of in a fluster, and we really stepped it up throughout the competition; everyone did, it was very impressive.”

During its preparation, the team received aid from two coaches, Social Studies Department Instructional Supervisor Eric Bloom and the team’s former official coach, Suzanne Stewart. In addition, three parent volunteers stepped in to provide advice and constructive criticism of the team’s performance in practice scrimmages, according to Kadifa.

“We had several students on the mock trial team whose parents are lawyers,” Kadifa said. “We had several constructive scrimmages prior to the event that helped us improve a lot.”

Bitton agrees that the parent volunteers were very helpful during the team’s preparation process.

“We’d have a full trial against ourselves, and they would take notes,” Bitton said. “They would give us different ways to present theories. It was really helpful to see their insight and how it looks to an outsider.”

According to Kadifa, each member on the team gained valuable experiences and learned important lessons from the season.

“I think what I learned this year was to always maintain a very professional demeanor, regardless of what happens,” Kadifa said, “and to always uphold the highest standards of professional behavior, and to really enjoy yourself.”

According to Bitton, the team will begin preparation for its next season at the beginning of the next school year.

“The season’s over, so we’re mostly just taking it all in,” Bitton said. “We’re trying to hang out, reminisce and feel good about all the work we put into it.”

Bitton believes that the new members on the team have gained enough experience to be able to effectively lead the team next year.

“Now that they understand what sort of time frame that should be followed, they’ll know how to get everything done in a timely manner, and how to be stellar when competition time rolls around,” Bitton said.

Bitton is optimistic about the team’s chances in next year’s competition.

“It was really a rebuilding year,” Bitton said. “Right now we have a lot of young members who have learned so much this year. They’re only going to be better next year. I couldn’t be more jealous.”

Kadifa agrees.

“We did well; we had a good batch of new people coming in,” Kadifa said. “I expect to see a lot from them in the upcoming years.”