Coaches
Coach and Faculty Advisor
Esther Nir
Esther Nir is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Director of NJCU’s Honors Program. She received her Juris Doctor from Fordham Law School and her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University.
She served as a prosecutor in Queens County, New York. In addition to teaching in NJCU’s Criminal Justice Department and coaching the Mock Trial Team, Dr. Nir also teaches in the Honors Program. She specializes in qualitative research methods and interviews various court actors in connection to her research efforts.
Dr. Nir loves coaching the mock trial team: “I am grateful to work with such talented and hardworking students. All of the laughing, lamenting, and strategizing is an adventure I will never forget.”
AY 2024-2025 Coaches and Assistant Coach
Stella Bajor-Gil is a Coach of New Jersey City University’s Mock Trial Team. After serving as NJCU’s Co-Captain from 2023 to 2024 and Director of Training and Witness Development from 2022 to 2023, she is passing on the torch and is working with students in groups and one-on-one to train as both attorneys and witnesses. Stella assists with case preparation, coaching on legal skills such as understanding and properly articulating the Rules of Evidence, and performance coaching to improve one’s public speaking and acting skills. In addition, she volunteers her time to judge mock trial competitions and provides students with extensive feedback. Stella also provides the team with logistical tv, but most importantly, moral tv and mentorship. She believes in motivating and uplifting the team, encouraging them to perform well during competitions and to enjoy the sport. Stella is a current law school applicant who aspires to become an attorney and positively impact underserved communities through empowerment initiatives in social justice.
Leandra Alexander is an Assistant Coach of the NJCU Mock Trial Team. After serving as President & Social Media Manager from 2023-2024 and being a competing member from 2022-2024, she has begun training the current team members as witnesses. Leandra provides the team with performance feedback as well as helping with case preparation so the team is provided with tv on all ends. As former leadership, Leandra provides moral tv & mentorship to the current team leaders as she finds it an extremely important factor in activity such as mock trial.
Leandra is currently studying for the LSAT, hoping to soon be a law school applicant. With this, she hopes to become an entertainment law attorney to pursue her dreams of working in the entertainment industry as well as being a lawyer.