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Winsor School wins MBA’s High School 
Mock Trial Championship

Issue May/June 2017

The Winsor School of Boston has been named State Champion of the Massachusetts Bar Association's 2017 High School Mock Trial Program. The state title is the school's fourth championship in the last five years and fifth state title since 2010.

As State Champion, the Winsor School qualified to represent Massachusetts at the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Hartford, Connecticut, May 11-13. A portion of their trip was funded by a $2,500 donation from the Massachusetts Bar Association's philanthropic partner, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation.

The Winsor School and Newton North High School competed in a two-hour mock trial in Faneuil Hall's Great Hall on March 24. In the fictional scenario at issue, the Winsor School represented the prosecution, the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Newton North represented the defendant, a recent war veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) charged with first degree murder. The Winsor School was victorious in both the decision of the case and the overall scoring of the match.

This year's judging panel for the state finals was Hon. Howard J. Whitehead (ret.), presiding justice, Massachusetts Superior Court; Hon. Kenneth V. Desmond Jr., Massachusetts Appeals Court; and Hon. Lisa Grant, Boston Municipal Court.

"I am humbled by the fact that I am playing a role in the continuing history of this great building," said Judge Whitehead, in reference to the historic Faneuil Hall venue. "I congratulate the students on their outstanding performance. Every year it's the same thing."

Massachusetts Bar Association President Jeffrey N. Catalano provided welcoming remarks and encouraged students to continue using their advocacy skills to support just causes. "Take the advocacy skills that you have learned in this program and the passion you have for justice, and use that in whatever way you can in your life," urged Catalano.

Started in 1985, the Massachusetts Bar Association's Mock Trial Program began its 32nd year in January. The competition places high school teams from across the state in simulated courtroom situations where they assume the roles of lawyers, defendants and witnesses in hypothetical cases. More than 1,500 students at 132 high schools competed in this year's competition.

The Mock Trial Program is administered by the Massachusetts Bar Association, with support from the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and Morrison Mahoney LLP. More than 100 lawyers across the state volunteer as coaches and judges.

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