J. Alex Bluebond
J. Alex Bluebond is a Columbus, OH-area attorney with the firm Zeiger, Tigges & Little, LLP. He is a coach in the American Mock Trial Association known for his youth and relative success. He has won one National Championship Tournament (NCT) as a coach, while in his second year of law school.
Bluebond is a 2013 graduate of the Duke University School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law, and a 2010 graduate of Miami University. He currently coaches mock trial at The Ohio State University.
Personal Style
Bluebond has said of his curly 'fro, "to be honest, my hair does most of the work itself." His tips include "not to use too much product, or it will lose its natural shape." He frequently patronizes Aeropostale and refuses to wear attractive pins of his own face.
High School
Bluebond attended Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, OH, where he competed in High School Mock Trial along with his younger brother Andrew Bluebond. He is a member of the Archbishop Hoban academic Hall of Fame He achieved a perfect score on the 2006 Ohio Mathematics League Test. Despite his many claims to the contrary, there is no evidence that Bluebond ever placed in the top 16 at an Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) state tournament.
College Mock Trial Career
Bluebond attended Miami University in Oxford, OH from 2006â2010, where he majored in Math, Economics, and Philosophy. He was also a member of the mock trial team at Miami University's James Lewis Family Mock Trial Program, where he competed under the tutelage of Miami professor and attorney Dan Herron. He won an All-Regional Outstanding Witness Award in 2008. The same year, he was a member of a team that placed eighth in the nation. His senior year, the Miami team competed in the National Championship Round, ultimately taking second place in the nation. He graduated with honors from Miami in 2010.
Coaching career
Bluebond's coaching career began his senior year of college. For the 2009-2010 season he both competed as a member of Miami's Mock Trial team and coached a freshman team. In 2010, Bluebond retired from competitive mock trial and began coaching the Duke Mock Trial team. He chose to attend Duke partially because he knew he could coach mock trial there. In his time there, Duke made it to the NCT twice, making them among the top 48 teams compete out of over 550 teams in the nation. They won the NCT in 2012, for the first time in their school's history, overcoming the "Duke curse" of never scoring more than 4 ballots (out of 8) in an NCT.
After graduating from Duke University with his J.D., Bluebond moved back to Ohio and took a job with Zeiger, Tigges & Little in Columbus, OH. In his first year there, he coached The Ohio State University's Mock Trial team to their second-ever spot in the NCT.
Coaching Style
Bluebond has said his coaching style involves "writing everything students have done poorly on a white board for everyone to see and telling them to 'just do what I say.'" He focuses on teaching students how to present their arguments clearly and without shouting.
American Mock Trial Association
Bluebond is currently a candidate for the board of the American Mock Trial Association, known as AMTA