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Middle schools gear up for mock trial competition
October 20, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. (October 20, 2009) -- Fourty-three middle schools from across the state will compete in the South Carolina Bar Regional Middle School Mock Trial Competitions Saturday, October 31.
Details for each region are below:
Midlands Region: The competitions begin at 8:15 a.m. and are being held at two separate Columbia locations--the Richland County Courthouse located at 1701 Main St. and the University of South Carolina Law School located at 701 Main St. Participating schools include Andrew Jackson, Blackville-Hilda, Blythewood, Cardinal Newman, Covenant Classical Christian, Crayton, Dent, Dutch Fork, E.L. Wright, Hand, Heathwood Hall, Hopkins, Irmo, Leavelle McCampbell, Lexington, Longleaf, Merriwether, Robert. E. Howard, Schofield, St. Andrews, St. Anne Catholic and St. Joseph.
Piedmont Region: The competition will begin at 8:15 a.m. at the Greenville County Courthouse at 305 E. North St. Participating schools include Fort Mill, Gold Hill, Greenville Academy of Traditional and Global Studies, Honea Path, North Side, Springfield and St. Joseph Catholic.
Lowcountry Region: The competition will begin at 8:15 a.m. at the Charleston County Courthouse at 100 Broad St. Participating schools include Hanahan, Holly Hill, Marrington and Pinewood Preparatory.
Coastal Region: The competition will begin at 8:15 a.m. at the Horry County Courthouse at 1301 2nd Ave. in Conway. Participating schools include Black Water, Forestbrook, Johnsonville, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Ocean Bay, Risen Christ Lutheran, St. Anthony Catholic, St. James and Whittemore Park.
Students will present the plaintiff and defense sides of a fictitious case before a panel of local volunteer lawyers. Additionally, students will fill the roles of defendant, witnesses, bailiffs and timekeepers. Each team will be judged on its presentation skills, rather than the legal merits of the case.
This year’s fictitious civil case, Drew Gardener v. Taylor James, was adopted by the LRE?Committee and the Middle School Mock Trial Subcommittee from the Indiana Law-Related Education Center, Inc. The case involves a high school football rivalry that dates back to 1966 between Jamestown High School and Golden Valley High School. Leading up to the 2006 game, Gardener, a local journalist, writes an article memorializing the first time the two teams met when Golden Valley defeated Jamestown 35-0. The night prior to the game, Gardener’s residence is vandalized. Investigations lead to the questioning of Taylor James, a student at Jamestown High School. To read more information about the case or about the Middle School Mock Trial program, go to www.scbar.org/msmt.
A total of ten teams from the five different regional competitions will advance to the state competition on Saturday, November 21 at the Marc H. Westbrook Lexington County Judicial Center located at 212 S. Lake Dr. in Lexington.
The mock trial program is sponsored by the South Carolina Bar’s Law Related Education (LRE) Division, which was developed in 1976 to improve the ability of teachers to instruct law related education.
The mock trial program is made possible through an IOLTA grant from the South Carolina Bar Foundation.
The South Carolina Bar, which has a membership of more than 13,000 lawyers, is dedicated to advancing justice, professionalism and understanding of the law.
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