Started from the Bottom

Bradley Ouambo

In the fall of 2015, I just completed my first set of tryouts as the coach of CWRU mock trial. When I thought everything was said and done, a student Shireen Batia '18 informed me that one of her friends was interested in trying out. Even though it was after the deadline, I agreed to let the kid try out. His name was Athavan Balendran ("Otto") '18. I won't lie. His tryout was unremarkable. He wasn't particularly bad, but he wasn't particularly good either. In the end I thought "what could it hurt" and accepted him on the spot.

The next time I interacted with Otto was at the hotel the night before he would compete for the first time at the Spartan Throwdown. He seemed lost to say the least, but the first-time attorney seemed interested in the tips I had to offer even though I was not his direct coach. Just as I was starting to think, hey maybe this kid is alright, the next story I hear about him is that he went to a tournament and completely forgot to bring his suit. He would go on to compete at St. Bonaventure with Walmart slacks and a cardigan that sorta looked like it could be a suit.

I did not expect to deal with Otto again that year, but as regionals were rolling around his coach Lauren Tuttle told me that Otto is actually a pretty good public speaker. She then informed me that Otto is playing a very fun witness, Tracey Minnetos (the "y" is silent). After regionals, I decided to move Otto from the B team to the A team and Ms. Tuttle borrowed a Drake line to describe his progress saying "he started from the bottom, now he's here." On A, he opened on Defense and played the carefree workout bro brother of Chase Covington, Tracey Minnetos. We got clobbered at ORCS, losing to Michigan and Yale (who would go on to become national champions) and finished with dismal record on 0-7-1.

Fast forward six years later. Otto now coaches the B team, is a 3L at Case Law, and is going to Nationals for the first time. Over the past weekend Otto competed at the National Trial Competition (NTC) Regional for the second time. Last year his season was cut short after losing to Akron in the final round. This year, it was a total victory. But that victory did not come easy.

Otto and his teammates Andrew Thompson and Elena Gutbrod were able to win rounds 1 and 2 and had a record of 2 wins and 5 ballots. Theirs was the best record of the tournament going into Round 3. Here is where things got tricky. CWRU was Prosecution against Michigan who was led by a former Yale Mock Trial national finalist Andrew Delvecchio. This round was a throwback of sorts as Delvecchio's theme ("they have the wrong brother and are telling you the wrong story") mirrored that of Yale's 2016 Nationals winning theme from Otto's first year of mock trial. After a difficult round and a misplaced impeachment, Michigan swept CWRU 3 ballots to 0.

Otto's team was certainly down but not out. Their record of 2 wins and 5 ballots was enough to advance to the knockout stage. In round 4, CWRU went defense against a different Michigan team. Just as the sides wrapped up opening statements the tournament took a dramatic turn. The tournament administrators realized they paired the teams incorrectly. As such, the final round would be dependent on the number of wins and ballots won and not a simple knockout elimination as originally planned. This meant to guarantee a position in the final round Otto not only needed to win, but sweep. That is exactly what he did. Otto's team moved on to the final round with 3 wins and 8 ballots to their name.

Here the drama continues to mount. Otto's team came face to face with Delvecchio once again. This time, Otto was defense. The round was notable in evidentiary battles between him and Delvecchio. At motions in limine Otto successfully moved to suppress the defendant's confession to the police, which was a major victory for his case. His partner Elena gave a flawless execution of her open that included lines borrowed from Yale's 2016 Nationals open. Little did Delvecchio know, Otto was also influenced by the likes of Yale. It was only fitting that the theory and the themes that influenced Otto so greatly in his first year of mock trial will be the keys to his victory in his last year of competing. Crosses went off without a hitch, but then came Otto's witness. At first things seemed like they were going well but just as the direct was wrapping up, his witness went off track, handing the prosecution valuable evidence to undermine his case. Otto did what he could with sharp redirect questions and an epic close but the question was would it be enough? It was. The ballot total is unknown and the point differential is still a mystery but the tournament officials announced that both Case Western teams were advancing to Nationals.

Otto wasn't born as an obviously awesome mocker. I didn't see his potential when he first came through. What makes him special is that when he decides he wants to be good at something, he becomes one of the very best. His law school mock trial career has seen him face off against some of the most successful undergraduate mockers and he's always managed to come out on top. Otto certainly started at the bottom from a mock trial standpoint, but there can be no debate, he's here now.