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Twelve high school teams from throughout the state have advanced to the SC Bar High School Mock Trial State Competition, which will be March 8-9 at the Richland County Magistrate Court in Columbia. The winning team will represent South Carolina in the national competition held in Athens, Georgia in May.
“The High School Mock Trial program gives students the chance to understand our legal system in an interactive way and allows them to grow into their own leadership roles,” said Law Related Education Director Cynthia Cothran. “This program would not be possible without the many wonderful teachers across South Carolina, our dedicated volunteer attorney coaches who spend countless hours with these students preparing students for their trials, volunteer judges and attorneys who judge the competitions, and the SC Bar Law Related Education Committee who support the Mock Trial program.”
Competing schools are:
Columbia Regional Competition:
- York Preparatory Academy – Region Winner
- Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
Conway Regional Competition:
- Wilson High School – Region Winner
- Carolina Forest High School
Georgetown Regional Competition:
- Wando High School - Region Winner
- Berkeley High School
- Fort Dorchester High School
Greenville Regional Competition:
- Wade Hampton High School – Region Winner
- Fort Mill High School
- NEXT High School
Lexington Regional Competition:
- Nation Ford High School – Region Winner
- Strom Thurmond High School
Statewide backup teams:
- Richland Northeast High School
- Chapin High School
“This year’s state competition will be a fight to the finish, and all of us at the South Carolina Bar are really looking forward to a great state competition,” said Cothran.
The annual Mock Trial program’s goal is to educate students about the basis of our American judicial system and the mechanics of litigation. Teams try each year's fictitious case against other teams at regional and state competitions.
For more information about the Mock Trial case or program, visit www.scbar.org/lre.