We are excited to announce our registration for attorney raters for the 2019 High School Mock Trial State Championship is now open. The 2019 YMCA Mock Trial State Championship will take place March 22nd – 23rd at the Thurston County Courthouse in Olympia. The link to register can be found at the end of this email.

For those of you who are not familiar with Mock Trial, here is a brief overview. In 1987, Washington YMCA Youth & Government doubled the number of students it could reach by taking on the high school Mock Trial Program, previously run by the Washington State Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division. In 2018, we are geared up to have 60 teams participate from across the state of Washington. Beginning in September, students begin studying the case and understanding the lives of the characters they must eventually become. They learn courtroom procedures, rehearse opening and closing arguments, and practice the art of thinking on their feet. Each team must field both a plaintiff and defense team, meaning that often time’s students must play dual roles. During the month of February, teams from around the state match up for district competitions. When they results are in, it is decided which 24 teams will make it to the state championship in March. From there, the winner of our state will represent Washington at the National High School Mock Trial Championships. Last year, Franklin High School won our state and was crowned the High School Mock Trial National Champions in Reno, Nevada.

This year’s case was written by the Honorable Judge Lewis from Clark County and is titled “Flyspecking”. This year’s case is a civil case that deals with livestock, neighborhoods, home owners associations and property lines. I have attached Judge Lewis’s summary of the case for more details.

We currently have 4 rounds open for volunteers:

Friday, March 22nd – 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Saturday, March 23rd – 8:00 – 11:00 am

Saturday, March 23rd – 12:00 – 3:00 pm

Saturday, March 23rd – 3:30 – 6:30 pm

Here is the link to register: https://goo.gl/forms/Bfbok70Nt9KdiiLx2

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at efitzgerald@seattleymca.org