If you are in the Boston area on Friday, March 28, you are invited to attend the Mock Trial State Championship Finals. The finals begin promptly at 10 a.m. in historic Faneuil Hall’s Great Hall in Boston. Superior Court Associate Justice Howard J. Whitehead will preside and will be assisted in the judging by Superior Court Associate Justice Barbara A. Dortch-Okara and District Court Associate Justice Barbara Savitt Pearson.
The 23rd Annual High School Mock Trial Tournament began Jan. 28. Sponsored by the law firm of Brown, Rudnick, Berlack and Israels LLP, the tournament places high school students (representing more than 100 schools across Massachusetts) in a courtroom setting where they play the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a simulated trial. This year’s case deals with sexual harassment in the workplace, specifically, the circumstances experienced by a high school senior placed into work environment as part of an internship program offered through the student’s school.
During the season, the MBA’s Community Services Department coordinates more than 200 trials across the state, culminating in the state championship trial on March 28. The state champion’s team will advance to the 2008 National Tournament, to be held this May in Wilmington, Del.