The Link

2010-03-08
MN STATE BAR ASSOCIATION

2010 high school mock trial championship begins March 9

(March 8, 2010) - The Minnesota high school mock trial state tournament, a challenging two-day event for the teams qualifying in regional competitions, will be held in Minneapolis March 9 and 10.

Each team will compete in three trials Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. Scores will be tabulated, and the two highest scoring teams will move on to the championship trial. This year's championship trial will be presided over by The Honorable Paul Anderson, Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court. Joining Justice Anderson on the panel as scorers will be Judge Pete Cahill (4th Judicial District), Judge James Dehn (10th Judicial District), Sheridan Hawley, Daniel McGrath, and Rosalie Schaefer. On Wednesday students will attend the awards banquet where regional champions, all-state attorney and witnesses, and professionalism award winners will be recognized.

The state championship team will represent Minnesota at the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Philadelphia, PA, May 5 through 8.

The two-day state tournament will mark the end of the 24th annual mock trial competition in Minnesota. Some 600 attorneys volunteered as coaches and judges during the mock trial season. Since January, over 1,500 students from Minnesota high schools argued the case of Kelly Anderson v. Dale Rockford & John Reilly High School. Jordan Anderson was a 17-year old senior in high school who unexpectedly died of a heart attack. Kelly Anderson, Jordan’s surviving parent, has filed a lawsuit against John Reilly High School and track coach Dale Rockford, claiming that the high school and Rockford were negligent in causing Jordan’s death.

Mock Trial is an academic program sponsored and administered by the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA). Teams participating in the state tournament can be found here: http://www2.mnbar.org/mocktrial/new_ranking.htm

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Background is available at www2.mnbar.org/mocktrial/index.htm

(Contact: Emily R. Reilly, 612/278-6306, ereilly@mnbar.org)