Here’s a note from the Colorado Bar Association about a mock trial competition in the 4th Judicial District this weekend:

This Friday and Saturday, Feb. 5-6, more than 250 Southern Colorado students along with more than 100 lawyers, judges and local business leaders will converge on the 4^th Judicial District Courthouse for the 25th Annual Colorado Bar Association High School Mock Trial Program’s Southern Regional Competition. 

High school students will try a “mock” criminal case in real courtrooms, with established attorneys and judges scoring the high school teams. Each year the process helps students develop critical thinking, public speaking, reasoning, strategic planning and team collaborative skills.

Most teams are structured as an extracurricular, run by teacher and attorney volunteers, from the fall through the spring. Mock trial combines skills from traditional clubs such as debate, theater, student council and honors. On their own, teams study the same fictional case. Teams must prepare to perform both as prosecution and defense attorneys in a real courtroom setting.

The Southern Colorado Regional Competition this year includes 17 teams and an additional round of trials. This year’s fictional case is a wrongful death case.

The El Paso County Bar Association helps run the competition, which is one of the largest in the state. What is unique about the Southern Regional competition is that the three-member judging panels include not only judges and lawyers but also a lay person (business leader). That lay person adds a unique perspective to the competition; he or she is able to view the competition from the eyes of a juror, the ultimate decision maker in many cases.

Members of the regional championship team will be honored both by the El Paso County Bar Association and Rotary Club of Colorado Springs.

            Friday and Saturday’s regional competition will determine the top four Southern Colorado teams. Those four teams will then head to the final round this Tuesday, February 9 at 4 p.m.  The top two teams will then compete in historic Division 1 in the Pioneers Museum for the championship match at 6:30 p.m. The top four teams will also head to the State Tournament hosted right here in El Paso County this year on March 12-13. The winner of the state tournament will then go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to compete for the national tournament, May 6-8.

            All competitions are open to the public. Friday’s round will start at 3 p.m. Saturday’s first round will start at 9 a.m. and the second round at 1:30 pm. The rounds will last approximately two ½ hours. Information about the competition will be available at the courthouse at 270 S. Tejon.

            Contact Jason Downie of Susemihl, McDermott & Cowan PC at (719) 579-6500 jdownie@smmclaw.com or on the day of the competition call (719) 272-4759 for more information. More information can be found on the Colorado Bar Association Mock Trial website www.coloradohighschoolmocktrial.com

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