3 Lower Merion Twp Schools Head To Mock Trial Competition Finals

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — Three schools in Lower Merion Township are sending teams on to the 38th Annual Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition finals.

The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBR) announced Lower Merion and Harriton high schools, as well as Merion Mercy Academy, will be sending teams to the finals.

Finals will be held virtually this Friday, Saturday, and Tuesday. The competition is coordinated and sponsored by the PBA Young Lawyers Division.

This year, 232 teams from 199 high schools competed in district and regional levels of Pennsylvania's mock trial competition in hopes of gaining one of the 16 spots at the statewide competition that was held virtually for the first time. Pennsylvania’s competition is one of the largest in the nation.

The winning team of the state championship will represent Pennsylvania in the national mock trial finals to be held virtually, May 13 to May 15, Evansville, Indiana.

On March 26, the three Lower Merion schools and 13 others will participate in two rounds of competition, one at 1:30 p.m. and one at 5:30 p.m.

Up to eight teams that have won their first two rounds of competition will advance to an 8:30 a.m. round of competition on Saturday. The two winners of this round (or the two highest-ranking teams) will advance to the state final on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. President Judge Kimberly Berkeley Clark, Fifth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, will serve as the presiding judge.

This year’s hypothetical case, Estate of George Romero v. Ashley Williams, is a criminal trial to determine whether the defendant is guilty of murdering George Romero with a chemical the defendant prepared.

The case was written by Jonathan A. Grode and Paul W. Kaufman, both of Philadelphia. Grode and Kaufman have been involved in the drafting of these materials for the past seven years.

During the competition, eight-member student teams are given the opportunity to argue both sides of the case in an actual courtroom before a judge. The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants, are assisted by teacher coaches and lawyer advisors in preparing for competition. Lawyers and community leaders serve as jurors for the mock trials. The juries determine the winners in each trial based on the teams’ abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments and follow court rules.