As litigators brought up in the U.S. adversarial system, it’s hard for us to imagine these scenarios:
- prosecutors reluctant to participate in a mock trial—because they might not win and have never faced adversarial opposition before;
- a defense lawyer with tears of joy over the idea of being able to cross-examine a prosecution witness for the first time—because just maybe that idea, once planted, will grow in the system she works in;
- a judge shocked to hear that a defendant could come into his courtroom and refuse to answer his questions—because of some strange ideas regarding self-incrimination.