The good Cornellians can do: Eliot Schuman ’75

For many years after graduation, Eliot worked as a trial attorney and did not have much to do with his alma mater. When his daughter Rachael Schuman '13 announced that she planned to follow in her father’s footsteps—to attend both the ILR School and then law school—Eliot was pleased. A few years later Eliot’s son Paul Schuman '17 followed a similar path, to Cornell ILR and then to law school.

Rachael suggested to her father that he become more involved with Cornell. Soon thereafter, a friend asked him to volunteer to help judge the Cornell Mock Trial team competition in winter 2015. Eliot said yes. After the competition, a few members of the Cornell team stopped him in the hallway and asked him to be their team’s coach. Eliot, who had always enjoyed teaching, once again said yes.

For the past dozen years, Eliot has served as head coach of the team—a purely volunteer position. He draws on his four decades of courtroom experience to teach the fine points of trial litigation to undergraduate students. He Zooms with the students at least once a week from his home in Westchester County, NY. And he travels in person to all their meets.

“There is nothing like a trial to expose weakness and vulnerability,” Eliot says. “You are out there alone, just you and the person you are cross examining. If you have prepared adequately, you will have not let your team down no matter the outcome.”

The team that wins is the team whose student lawyers display the most skills:
• Do they ask the right questions?
• If there's an objection, do they argue it well enough to overrule the objection?
• If they're the opposing attorney, are they making the right objections?

Over time, the team members have come to trust him—and, he says, that makes all the difference. That’s when he can teach them. Eliot minored in education at Cornell, and he enjoys watching his students grow.

“In essence, Mock is not about trials,” he explains. “It is more about simply growing up, maturing, and making that transition from childhood to adulthood. They see whom they can trust, whose promises are kept, and who has their best interests at heart. And when they do, they begin the process of teaching that to the younger students. It is a beautiful thing to watch. And it is why I do what I do.”

Eliot notes that the Mock Trial team could always use more judges and invites other alumni to pick up the gavel and get involved.

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