The Glens Falls High School Mock Trial team finished off its great season with a second-place finish in the Warren County Finals on Tuesday, April 2nd! “First, we made it to semi-finals, winning against Salem,” says team advisor Donna Bates. “Then, we competed in the Warren County finals at the Warren County Courthouse against Hudson Falls. We finished in second place, with Hudson Falls winning by less than a point.”
Attorneys included Margie Layden, Jeanne Richards, Caroline Shaver, and Callie Woodell. Witnesses included Connor Griffith, Tess Harrington, Jackie Layden, and Sylvia Guillet. During the season, Margie Layden was named best attorney, Tess Harrington was named best witness as Rivers Ebb, Harley’s aunt’s nurse, and Connor Griffith was twice awarded best witness, as Finley Adams, Harley’s 81-year-old neighbor.
This year’s NYSBA Mock Trial case was an Article 78 proceeding to determine if the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s decision to deny the plaintiff, Harley Davison, succession rights to his/her aunt’s apartment was arbitrary and capricious and if it had a rational basis. “We competed on the petitioner/plaintiff side three times and on the respondent side three times,” said Mrs. Bates.
The Mock Trial program is designed to teach students basic trial skills such as direct and cross examinations, how to present opening and closing statements, how to think on their feet, and to negotiate the dynamics of a courtroom. Students learn how to analyze legal issues and apply the law to the facts of the case. They also learn professionalism, ethics, civility, and how to be ardent but courteous advocates for their clients.
Congratulations, team!
