POTTSTOWN PA – A knowledgeable team of would-be attorneys fielded by Pottsgrove High School won both of its opening contests Tuesday (Jan. 31, 2012) during the district-level first installment of the 2012 High School Mock Trials Competition sponsored by The Montgomery Bar Association Young Lawyers Section, the Bar website reported.

The Falcons’ legal squad scored 99.40 against one of two teams from LaSalle College High School (its score was 96.00) in Tuesday’s first round at 3:30 p.m. in the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown PA; and then fared even better, 101.00, against a Souderton High School team (93.60) in the 5:15 p.m. second round.

Pottsgrove’s is one of 32 teams from Montgomery County high schools vying for the district crown in Pennsylvania’s mock trial program. Now in its 28th year, Pennsylvania’s statewide Mock Trial Competition includes more than 280 high schools from across the Commonwealth, making it one of the largest programs of its kind in the nation.

During the competition, each eight-member student team has the opportunity to argue both sides of a previously provided case in an actual courtroom before an actual sitting judge from Montgomery County’s Court of Common Pleas.  The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants, prepare with the help of teacher-coaches and lawyer advisers.

This year’s case is a civil action in which the plaintiff seeks an injunction to prevent the owner of a pharmaceutical plant from expanding its operations. The plaintiff argues that an endangered species is alleged to have been found on the land where the expansion is to occur.

Future mock trials in the competitive series are scheduled for Feb. 13 (Monday) and Feb. 15 (Wednesday). District semi-finals are scheduled for Feb. 21 (Tuesday), and the district finals for March 13 (Tuesday).

Lawyers, law office staff and community leaders serve as jurors for the mock trials. The juries determine the winners in each trial based on the teams’ abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments and follow court rules. Young Lawyers’ Section Chairman Seth Wilson said that more than 100 county judges, teachers and lawyers are volunteering time to the mock trials this year.

Once the local contests conclude – and Pottsgrove has done well in them during past years – the winning finalist team will join 11 other high school mock trial teams from across Pennsylvania in advancing to the Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Championships, March 30 and 31, in Harrisburg.  The winning team of the state championship will represent Pennsylvania in the national mock trial finals to be held during late spring in New Mexico.