A Vermont Mock Trial Competition for high school students will be held from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Saturday, April 8, at Vermont Law School. The pilot competition, open to the public and press, is sponsored by the Vermont judicial community, Snelling Center for Government, Vermont Bar Association, Civics First, SPEAK Inc., and the VLS SPEAK chapter.
Contest organizers seek to launch Vermont high school students into the national mock trial arena.
"The lawyers and judges in Vermont are very proud to be sharing their world with high school students for a day," said U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford, who has been planning the competition for over a year. "We all hope to show these students firsthand how the legal system operates and, maybe, recruit a few colleagues for the future."
Participating students attend Rutland High School, Brattleboro Union High School, and Southwest Vermont Career Development Center. The competitors, mentored by lawyers and VLS students, will have the opportunity to serve as defense and prosecution in three rounds. Judges will score each round, and a representative from Civics First, based in Connecticut, will guide participants through procedures and answer questions.
"Civics First has held our hand through this entire process to help us plan a successful first program," said Jessica Bullock JD’18, a VLS student and founder of SPEAK Inc. "And the Snelling Center for Government and the Vermont Bar Association have done an incredible job garnering local support—from recruiting attorney mentors for each school to fundraising stipends for the teachers who are volunteering their time. I am proud to be part of this team and thank the many judges, lawyers, teachers, and students who have made the competition possible."
Judge Crawford will open the Vermont Mock Trial Competition with a welcome at 9 a.m. in Yates Common Room at VLS. Competition rounds will take place from 9:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in Room 109, Oakes Hall. Awards for overall winner, best prosecution team, best defense team, and more will be given during a private ceremony and luncheon directly following the competition. For more information, email JessicaBullock@vermontlaw.edu.
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Vermont Law School, a private, independent institution, is home to the nation’s largest and deepest environmental law program. VLS offers a Juris Doctor curriculum that emphasizes public service; three Master’s Degrees—Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Master of Energy Regulation and Law, and Master of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy; and four post-JD degrees —LLM in American Legal Studies (for foreign-trained lawyers), LLM in Energy Law, LLM in Environmental Law, and LLM in Food and Agriculture Law. The school features innovative experiential programs and is home to the Environmental Law Center, South Royalton Legal Clinic, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, Energy Clinic, Food and Agriculture Clinic, and Center for Applied Human Rights. For more information, visit vermontlaw.edu, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.