Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Apr. 1, 2010
Top to bottom:
1. Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School team photo.
2. Members of The Winsor School review case materials.
3. Left: Members of the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School present their case.
4. Right: A member of the Winsor team is sworn in.
5. MBA 25th Annual Mock Trial State Champions: The Winsor School.
Photos by Jeff Thiebauth.
The Winsor School wins MBA 2010 Mock Trial State Championship
For the first time, The Winsor School
of Boston was named State Champion of the Massachusetts Bar
Association's 2010 Mock Trial Program. The finals were held at
Faneuil Hall in Boston on Friday, March 26.
The all girls high school now advances to the National High School
Mock Trial Championship in Philadelphia, Penn. held May 6-9. A
portion of the trip will be funded by a donation from the MBA's
philanthropic partner, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation.
"It's just incredible. I'm so excited for nationals," said Amy
Bridge, a senior and one of three team captains. "We've worked so
hard for this. It's a relief," added fellow captain Sanjana
Sharma.
The Winsor School and Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter
Public School in South Hadley competed during a more than two-hour
mock trial in The Great Hall. The Winsor School represented the
plaintiff, Doris J. Zellus, a woman who lost a large sum of money
after investing her daughter's college fund. Pioneer Valley
represented the defendants, investment advisor A.J. Clifford and
the firm of Goldsmith Neray & Sass LLC.
Superior Court Justice Peter W. Agnes Jr. presided over the mock
trial and was assisted by Norfolk Probate and Family Court
Associate Justice John D. Casey and District Court Justice Barbara
Savitt Pearson.
"If in my courtroom every day I had the pleasure of having lawyers
as good as you, my job would be a lot easier," Pearson said.
The Mock Trial Program began its 25th year in January
with more than 115 teams. The competition places high school teams
from 16 regions across the state in simulated courtroom situations
where they assume the roles of lawyers, defendants and witnesses in
hypothetical cases.
The Mock Trial Program is
administered by the MBA, and made possible by the international law
firm of Brown Rudnick through its Center for the Public Interest in
Boston, which has contributed $25,000 per year to the program since
1998.
Click here to view event photos.