A total of 285 teams from 235 high schools across Pennsylvania are competing in district and regional levels of the Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Young Lawyers Division. Pennsylvania's mock trial program is now in its 37th year.
During the competition, eight-member student teams are given the opportunity to argue both sides of a case in an actual courtroom before a judge. The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs, and defendants, are assisted by teacher coaches and lawyer advisers in preparing for the competition. Lawyers and community leaders serve as jurors for the mock trials. The juries determine the winners in each trial based on the teams' abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments, and follow court rules.
The district and regional levels of the competition will continue throughout February and March. Then, 14 high school mock trial teams will advance to the PBA Statewide Mock Trial Championships, which will be held on Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28, in Harrisburg. The winning team will represent Pennsylvania in the national mock trial finals, which are scheduled for Wednesday to Saturday, May 6 to 9, in Evansville, Ind.
The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the PBA, is providing funding support for the statewide competition. Serving as co-chairs of the Mock Trial Executive Committee are Young Lawyers Division chair Jennifer Menichini of Pittston and former Young Lawyers Division chair Jonathan D. Koltash of Harrisburg.
For more information about the 2020 PBA Statewide Mock Trial Championships and to read this year's case, readers may visit http://www.pabar.org/site/For-the-Public/Mock-Trial-Competition. Interested volunteers should contact the PBA's Maria Engles at 800-932-0311, ext. 2223.
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