Fictitious trial

Students took on the Linz Provincial Court

Friday at the provincial court in Linz was all about the pupils

(Bild: Horst Einöder/Flashpictures)

Seven teams of students from all Austrian law schools competed against each other at the Linz Regional Court as part of the "Moot Court". The aim is to teach the young lawyers how to deal with the situation in court. The court heard a curious fictional case taken from a Netflix series.

An employee named Jonas Sims caused 33,000 euros worth of damage on his first day of work at the "Cloud Nine" electronics store. Because his trainer had to leave for a short time, he was supposed to hold a discount machine. However, the boy had handled the device and instead of reducing the price of 53 electrical appliances by 25 percent as planned, he reduced their retail price to 25 cents each! Even experienced employees were unable to stop the subsequent rush of visitors, and the damage was done.

Same case in three halls
Although 33,000 euros is a considerable sum, such cases rarely attract the interest of visitors or even the media, and are certainly not heard in the jury courtroom at Linz Provincial Court. And yet the "61" was packed on Friday morning. And not only that, but also two other courtrooms in which the same case was being heard!

Something like this only happens in absolutely exceptional cases, and in Linz it was the first time ever. The "Moot Court" made its debut at the regional court. These are fictitious trials in which pupils and students compete against each other and try to convince the professional judge(s) of their case as prosecutors or defense attorneys. 

Once Mr. Sims did not have to pay
170 pupils, teachers and spectators attended the three different trials. In the end, there was a clear winner: while Mr. Sims had to pay back 7,000 euros in one trial and around 3,000 euros in a second trial, the Linz team of junior lawyers in courtroom 144 managed to get their Mr. Sims out of the affair completely scot-free. 

Joy for the Linzers
"In the end, the judge ruled in our favor that our client was not guilty of gross negligence," said a delighted Leonard Durstberger (17) from the Business Academy Linz-Auhof. "In the end, we came out of the trial with a loss amount of 0 euros," added team and classmate Lena Pyringer (17). What's next for the two of them in real life? "We both want to stay in the field. Next year we have our A-levels, also in law, and then we'll continue with a normal law degree."

"Everyone was nervous"
Team colleague Jannick Riedler (18) is also delighted with the result and adds: "We've already been involved in negotiations as part of internships. But when you have to stand outside and give a speech yourself, it's something else. I think I can speak for all of us, we were pretty nervous!"

Case dealt with from both sides
"It's always important to emphasize your own side and to critically question the arguments of the other side. The case came out in October, shortly after school started, and since then the students have been working on it very intensively," explains Irene Ackerlauer, Director of the Business Academy Linz-Auhof. "They also have a supervising lawyer at their side, but of course most of the work comes from the students. They even have to work out the case from both sides, from the plaintiff's and defendant's point of view. It takes a lot of time!"

The students have been working on the case since October, dealing with it from both the plaintiff's and the defendant's perspective.

Irene Ackerlauer, Direktorin der Business Academy Linz-Auhof

President delighted with commitment
"The students of the Jus-HAKs have really put in a lot of effort and for the most part put in a really great performance. They prepared for a very long time, and the supervisors also deserve a lot of praise," said a delighted Amalia Berger-Lehner, President of the Linz Regional Court. "Of course, we hope that some of these many committed students will apply to us one day. There are so many jobs with us, including some that don't require a law degree."

The students of the Jus-HAKs put in a lot of effort and for the most part put in a really great performance. They prepared for a very long time, and the supervisors also deserve a lot of praise.

Amalia Berger-Lehner, Präsidentin des Landesgericht Linz

Parallel to the hearings, workshops were held for the pupils in the courtrooms, where trainee lawyers, trainee judges and judges talked about their exciting and varied working day and the many different work opportunities at the court.

Idea from Netflix series
If the case of electronics store employee Jonas Sims sounds familiar to anyone, it's no wonder: Thomas Dullinger from WU Vienna borrowed the case with colleagues from the Netflix series "Superstore". "It would be far too costly to hire actors as witnesses or defendants for the moot court. So we simply show an excerpt from a series that depicts the crime," smiles the lawyer.

In the end, however, the tide turned for the Upper Austrians: it was no longer enough for a place in the moot court. First place went to pupils from VBS Schönborngasse Vienna, ahead of their colleagues from Eisenstadt and Salzburg.