Delco re:View Winter 2020 - 10

www.DelcoBar.org

Mock Trial

#36YearsStrong!
W

elcome to the 2020 Pennsylvania Statewide High
School Mock Trial Competition - the 36th year of
one of the top secondary level academic competitions
in the Commonwealth! The competition, which commenced in
1984, is sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of the
Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA). It provides high school
students with firsthand experience of the American judicial
system.
One of the largest in the nation, the PBA/YLD Mock Trial
Competition gives more than 300 high school student teams from
across the state the opportunity to act as lawyers and witnesses
in simulated civil and criminal trials before actual judges and
panels of juries. Lawyers volunteer to assist students as team
advisors, scorekeepers and regional coordinators. Each year, the
winning team goes on to represent Pennsylvania in the national
competition.
Commencing in early January and concluding by mid-March,
the district-level tournament of the competition is sanctioned
by the Young Lawyers' Section of the Delaware County Bar
Association with Christina V. Hayes, Esquire, and Annemarie E.
Ward, Esquire, as the official mock trial coordinators, 2020.
This year's case, Addison Babbage v. Ruffed Grouse High
School, LLC, is a civil case to determine whether the defendant
is liable for failing to address cyberbullying at a private school.

"You never realize how strong
you are until being strong is the
only choice you have."
- Unknown

10 | Winter 2020

The problem deals with a real epidemic facing our society,
cyberbullying, bullying that takes place over digital devices
like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can
occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media,
forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share
content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing
negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else.
It can include sharing personal or private information about
someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some
cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.
What makes Delaware County's competition truly unique
is the way it is generously supported by our local attorneys and
judges. In Delaware County, every trial is presided over by a
Common Pleas or Magisterial District Judge or an experienced
attorney and decided by a jury of least three practicing attorneys,
who score the students on presentation. At the conclusion of
each trial, the judge and jurors are invited to draw on their own
wisdom and experience in giving feedback to the students.
The active participation of our legal community, combined
with the students' own commitment and hard work, make for an
excellent opportunity for the students to develop a wide array of
practical skills that will serve them well as they move forward in
life.
By supporting the competition so strongly, the Delaware
County Bar Association sends a very clear, positive message of
how much we value our ties with the surrounding community,
particularly in regard to the personal growth and development of
our local youth. *
http://www.DelcoBar.org
Delco re:View Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Delco re:View Winter 2020
