Osler's Razor

This weekend was the AAJ mock trial tournament, featuring a team of two great Baylor students Ed Cloutman and Tom Jacob, both of whom I have coached in prior tournaments. According to the Baylor Law Twitter feed (go figure-- who does that?), they came in third. This is a great outcome, as they made the break and then battled their way into the semis.

Still, I know these guys, and they probably feel rotten for having not won the whole thing. They shouldn't. First off, they did very well in a very tough national final. Second, the truth is that these things are pretty hit-or-miss: it is subjective judging by people who sometimes seem swayed by who has the nicest voice or the easiest answers or happens to be the most like they are. Many times, we have won the competitions we should have lost, and lost the ones we should have won.

Here's something else, too-- the thing about mock trial is that it is mock. Moot court is moot. For the rest of their working lives, Tom and Ed will be working on things that are neither mock nor moot-- they are going to doing things that make the world better, that help people, that make us all proud that they are from Baylor. It is with some confidence that I say that these two are among the very best students I have had in recent years, and that if I needed representation in court I would be comfortable counting on them with the skills and talent they can bring to bear right now. I'm proud of the people they are and will become, and that has nothing to do with third or eighth or forty-second.

As with Joel and Eric, if you have the chance to shake Tom or Ed's hand, do so, because in thirty years you can tell people you did.