2014 Statewide Mock Trial Competition hosts Students from Erie and Surrounding Counties
Erie, PA - The Erie County Bar Association (ECBA) will host the District 2 competition for the Statewide Mock Trial Championships on Wednesday, January 29th and Thursday, January 30th at the Erie County Court House. Students from the following high schools will participate in the competition: Cambridge Springs, Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, Conneaut, Fort LeBoeuf, McDowell, Meadville, Northwestern, Oil City, Saegertown, Sheffield, Warren and Youngsville.
These schools are among the 338 teams from 284 schools across the state of Pennsylvania competing in the district level of the competition. Pennsylvania’s program has benefitted students for over 30 years of and is one of the largest in the nation.
Sponsored statewide by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, the mock trial competition gives student teams, consisting of six or more members, the opportunity to argue both sides of a case in an actual courtroom before a judge. This year’s case is a civil action seeking damages for the wrongful death of a promising student athlete who was allegedly encouraged to use illegal performance enhancing drugs by her high school athletic director and track coach.Volunteer lawyers, judges, and teachers are crucial to offering this program locally. The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs, and defendants, are assisted by teacher coaches and attorney advisors in preparing for competition. Members of the ECBA volunteer to serve as jurors in the trial, determining the winners 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 January and February with 12 teams advancing to the Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Championships on March 28th and 29th in Harrisburg. The winner of the state championship will represent Pennsylvania at the national mock trial finals to be held May 8th through the 10th in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, will provide funding for the statewide competition.
For more information on the 2014 Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trail Championships and to read this year’s case, visit the Young Lawyers Division’s section of the PBA website at https://www.pabar.org/public/yld.
