Posted in: Public
Forty-seven middle schools will compete in the 18th annual SC Bar Regional Middle School Mock Trial Competitions across the state on Nov. 10.
Students will present the plaintiff and defense sides of a fictitious civil case before a panel of local volunteer lawyers and judges. Additionally, students will fill the roles of attorneys, witnesses, bailiffs and timekeepers. Each team will be judged on its presentation skills, rather than the legal merits of the case.
“Through this program, students not only learn about the court process, but critical thinking, problem analysis and team work,” said Cynthia Cothran, the Law Related Education director. “The best thing to see is students growing up in the program. I have watched middle school students participate in High School Mock Trial, go to college, enroll in law school and then become South Carolina attorneys.”
This year’s fictitious civil case is Gray Fields v. Blume Development Corporation in which Gray Fields is suing a quarry development for the death of a child.
A total of 12 teams from the four regional competitions will advance to the state competition Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 at the Richland County Central Court in the Decker Center.
Participating middle schools in the regional competition include:
Georgetown, Georgetown County Courthouse, 401 Cleveland St, Georgetown
- Ashley Hall
- Buist Academy for Advanced Studies
- Cario Middle School
- C. E. Murray Middle
- C. E. Williams Middle School for Creative and Scientific Arts
- Kingstree Middle Magnet School of the Arts
- Marrington Middle School of the Arts
- Moultrie Middle School
- Philip Simmons Middle School
- St. Andrew Catholic School
- Ten Oaks Middle School
Greenville, Greenville County Courthouse, 305 E. North St., Greenville
- Bob Jones Academy
- Chester Middle School
- Fort Mill Middle School
- Green Charter
- Greenville Middle Academy
- Johnston-Edgefield-Trenton (JET) Middle School
- Legacy Early College
- McCormick Middle School
- Oakridge Middle School
- Pleasant Knoll Middle School
- Riverside Middle School
- York Preparatory Academy
Lexington Summary, Lexington County Summary Courthouse, 139 E. Main St., Lexington
- A. L. Corbett Middle School
- Ben Lippen Middle School
- Blythewood Middle School
- Cardinal Newman School
- Hand Middle School
- Jackson STEM Magnet Middle School
- Summit Parkway Middle School
- W.A. Perry Middle School
Lexington Westbrook, Marc H. Westbrook Lexington County Judicial Center, 205 E. Main St., Lexington
- Chapin Middle School
- Crayton Middle School
- Dent Middle School
- Dutch Fork Middle School
- Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
- Irmo Middle School
- Leavelle McCampbell Middle School
- Lee Central Middle School
- Lexington Middle School
- Longleaf Middle School
- St. Joseph Catholic School
Conway, Horry County Government and Judicial Center, 1301 Second Ave., Conway
Postponed until March 23, 2019
- Conway Middle School
- Forestbrook Middle School
- Hemingway M. B. Lee Middle School
- Myrtle Beach Middle School
- Socastee Middle School
- Whittemore Park Middle School
The Mock Trial Program is sponsored by the SC Bar’s Law Related Education (LRE) Division, which was developed in 1976 to improve the ability of teachers to instruct law related education. The program is supported by the Bar’s LRE Committee and made possible through a SC Bar Foundation Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts grant and the SC Bar.