Media Advisory:
  Maryland Court of Appeals Hosts Mock Trial State Championship

(ANNAPOLIS, Md. – April 15, 2016)  Two Maryland high school mock trial teams will face off in the historic courtroom of the Maryland Court of Appeals when the state’s highest court hosts the 2016 Mock Trial State Championship on Friday, April 22. Students will argue their cases before Court of Appeals Judge Shirley M. Watts in the Court of Appeals courtroom. The media are invited to attend. The arguments will be shown via live webcast beginning at 10 a.m. on the Judiciary website.

The day before, on Thursday, April 21, teams representing Annapolis High School (Anne Arundel County), Baltimore City College High School (Baltimore City), DeMatha High School (Prince George’s County), and Franklin High School (Baltimore County) will compete in the semifinals. The semifinals will be held at the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County in Annapolis before Judge Timothy E. Meredith and Judge Douglas R.M. Nazarian, both of whom sit on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. The winners of the mock trial semifinals will present their cases before Judge Watts in the Court of Appeals to decide the state championship.

The mock trial competition is sponsored by the Citizenship Law-Related Education Program (CLREP) in cooperation with the Maryland State Bar Association and the Maryland Judicial Conference. Every year, high school mock trial teams participate at least four times each in local competitions. By the time a team has reached the state championship, it will have competed, on average, more than eight times. Virtually all competitions are held in either District Court or Circuit Court courtrooms throughout the state.

The success of the mock trial competition depends heavily on the several hundred judges, magistrates, and attorneys who volunteer to coach the teams and score the competitions at the local, regional, semifinal, and final levels, providing high school students throughout Maryland the opportunity to learn about the law and the legal system while developing advocacy skills.

Since the competition began in 1983, more than 54,000 students from nearly all of the counties in Maryland and Baltimore City have participated.

WHAT:
2016 Mock Trial State Championship

WHEN:
Friday, April 22, 2016
10 a.m.-noon

WHERE:
Maryland Court of Appeals
361 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, Maryland 21401

WHO:
The Honorable Shirley M. Watts, Judge, Maryland Court of Appeals, will preside. Sponsored by the Citizenship Law-Related Education Program (CLREP), in cooperation with the Maryland State Bar Association and the Maryland Judiciary.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Please call the Office of Communications and Public Affairs, 410-260-1488, if you would like to attend or have questions. Cameras will be permitted before and after the arguments, which will start at 10 a.m. The arguments will be shown via live webcast on the Judiciary website.

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