Bianca Abbate, ‘21, is coming back to La Salle to be the coach of the team that inspired her legal career.
La Salle’s team competes within the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA), a national governing body for intercollegiate mock trial tournaments. Being part of AMTA means students at La Salle can compete against schools across the country.
Without La Salle’s mock trial team, Bianca Abbate, ‘21, doesn’t know if she would have ever found her way to a legal career. As the team’s newest coach, she wants to pay it forward.
“The team is really the reason I applied to law school. As a first-generation college student at La Salle, I didn’t grow up around a lot of lawyers,” Abbate said. “The team really showed me a career path that felt right for me.”
Come September, she’ll be back at La Salle coaching a new class of potential future lawyers who are on the team.
“The mock trial team at La Salle is a group of students who participate in simulated court trials,” Cole Welsh, ‘26, president of the team, said. “Acting as either attorneys or witnesses, we prepare and present cases for fictional criminal and civil cases.”
La Salle’s team competes within the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA), a national governing body for intercollegiate mock trial tournaments. Being part of AMTA means students at La Salle can compete against schools across the country.
“To prepare for our competitions, we analyze a fictional case given to us by AMTA, prepare legal arguments and theories, develop witness testimony, and practice courtroom procedures,” Welsh, a political science and criminal justice major, said.
Mock trial is open to any undergraduate Explorer, and members represent almost every major at La Salle, Welsh said. As well as the obvious benefits to students who are interested in a legal career, team members also gain experience in things like public speaking and planning and executing strategies as part of a team.
Until now, the team has been largely student run and hasn’t had a consistent coach, although alumni have come in to help. Abbate’s return in September will change that, and the team is already anticipating the impact it will have.
“We are very excited to be getting a coach for the first time. As a former La Salle mock trial competitor and current law school student, we believe that Bianca will be an invaluable asset to our program,” Welsh said. “As our coach, she will be able to teach us the legal concepts and trial procedures that are needed to win.”
Abbate, who has continued competing for mock trial teams at law school, wants to use her time as coach to help current Explorers in the same way the program helped her.
After graduating from La Salle, where she was an international relations major, Abbate worked at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office for a couple of years before starting law school at The George Washington University Law School. During her time in D.C., she interned at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and completed a summer associate program at Hollingsworth LLP, a civil litigation firm, after winning the firm-sponsored mock trial competition in her first year of law school.
She has had important mentors throughout her life, including professors at La Salle and lawyers she met while on the mock trial team, who have helped to support and guide her to achieve her goals. She would also love to act as a resource for any students who want to go to law school, sharing her knowledge and experience with them to help make the process clearer.
“I just hope I can be like that for the next generation of students,” she said. “That I am able to mentor them and support them in what they want to do.”
“I would love the opportunity to pay it forward. I got a lot from the mock trial team. Even outside of being introduced to a legal career, it really helped me develop so many useful skills,” Abbate said. “I would love to pass the baton on and be able to help other students.”
-Naomi Thomas
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