From the President

• Publication year: 2018
• Pages: 0006
• Citation: Vol. 23 No. 7 Pg. 0006

From the President Vol. 23 No. 7 Pg. 6 Georgia Bar Journal June, 2018

BRIAN D. “BUCK” ROGERS, J.

President State Bar of Georgia president@gabar.org

Help Make the 2019 Nationals in Athens Another Winner for Georgia High School Mock Trial

In less than a year, the eyes of the nation will be on Georgia’s legal community as we host the 2019 National High School Mock Trial Championship in Athens May 16-18. The national competition will draw teams from at least 45 states and U.S. territories and bring more than 1,000 team members, coaches and spectators to our state.

This will be another proud moment for the Georgia High School Mock Trial Program, which previously hosted the national championship in Atlanta in 1993 and 2009. A project of our Young Lawyers Division, the program is funded in part by the State Bar of Georgia and is endorsed by the Georgia Department of Education and the Judicial Council of Georgia. Organized in 1988, the ultra-successful program is now 30 years old.

According to Georgia High School Mock Trial Program Director Michael Nixon, approximately 1,700 students from public and private high schools and homeschool associations participate each year. For the 2018 season, a total of 103 teams competed at the regional level, with 48 advancing to the district competition and eight district winners competing for the state championship. Jonesboro High School took home the state trophy this year and represented Georgia at this year’s national competition in Reno, Nev.

The annual competition involves teams of students working together to prepare their presentations from court case materials provided by the YLD’s High School Mock Trial Committee. The students play the roles of attorneys and witnesses based on the witness statements and evidence provided in the case materials.

Mock trial competitors not only gain a greater understanding of the law, legal issues and judicial process, they are also impacted academically by improved proficiency in basic skills such as listening, speaking, reading and reasoning. The experience of preparing for and participating in a mock trial is one benefit of the competition, along with the invaluable learning experiences for each student. Teams are actually evaluated on their ability to make a logical, cohesive and persuasive presentation, rather than on the legal merits of their case.

Along with the statewide competition, the High School Mock Trial Program also oversees the annual Law Academy and the Craig Harding Memorial Court Artist Contest, both of which are designed to increase students’ understanding of and appreciation for the law, court procedures and the legal system.

The success of the High School Mock Trial Program is primarily dependent on the participation of Bar members to serve as volunteer coaches, judges or evaluators (jurors). As Nixon states, “We are always looking for attorneys to be involved on a judging panel at any of our competitions, behind the scenes at the competitions or as an attorney coach for a team.”

For their time, Bar members who serve on a judging panel or as attorney coaches are now eligible to claim CLE credit. For serving at one level of competition in a season, attorneys can receive...