Hi MJP student!

Sounds like a fun project. I have a couple of questions first:

(A) What grade are you in? (I'm asking so I can try to help you tailor an opener which is appropriate for your age; how a 10 year old and an 18 year old should open are quite a bit different!).

(B) Who does the plaintiff have that will testify that they heard the remarks? A friend of the student's? Other professors? How sure are you that they will testify that the profesor said anything at all?

(C) How good is your evidence that the student cheated? Did anyone else see the student cheat? How does the professor know he cheated?

(D) Is there anyone who you can have testify that the student already is known to cheat, and therefore, even if the professor defamed him, no reputational damage was done since the student was a known cheater anyway?

(E) How long has the professor been teaching? Has he ever been sued for this before? Is his academic record clean?

Question B above is the most important for opening statement purposes, because if you know the student can prove that the remarks were made, you'll want to admit that in your opening statement so the jury thinks you're honest and forthright and that this whole lawsuit is ridiculous. If you think you can defend whether the remarks were even made at all, you won't want to admit anything in the opener.

Let me know these answers and I'll see what I can come up with.