Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Mar. 25, 2010
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School and The Winsor School to compete at the MBA's 2010 Mock Trial Finals
High School teams from Boston and
South Hadley will compete for the Massachusetts Bar Association's
2010 Mock Trial State Championship at Faneuil Hall in Boston
tomorrow.
Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School in South
Hadley and The Winsor School in Boston will square off at 10 a.m.
in the Great Hall of Faneuil Hall. The teams advanced after winning
semi-final elimination rounds held simultaneously at courthouses in
Boston and Worcester earlier this week.
Superior Court Justice Peter W. Agnes Jr. will preside over the
mock trial and will be assisted by Norfolk Probate and Family Court
Associate Justice John D. Casey and District Court Justice Barbara
Savitt Pearson. The winning team will secure the state championship
and advance to the national competition in Philadelphia, Penn. held
May 6-9.
The Mock Trial Program began its 25th year in January.
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. This
year's civil case involves an individual who loses a large sum of
money after investing a daughter's college fund with a brokerage
firm financial advisor. The case focuses on whether the firm and/or
the advisor are responsible.
More than 100 high schools across the state initially signed up to
participate in the 2010 Mock Trial Program. The preliminary trials
began at the end of January. Local attorneys served as both team
coaches and judges of the preliminary trials.
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.