News from the Law Related Education Committee Written by John ( Jay ) C . Webber , Esq .
News from the Law Related Education Committee Written by John ( Jay ) C . Webber , Esq .
Nine schools recently participated in the 2023 High School Mock Trial Competition for the 15th Circuit . Students from Palm Beach Lakes Community High School , FAU High School , Wellington High School , The King ’ s Academy , Donna Klein Jewish Academy , American Heritage School , Spanish River High School , The Benjamin School and Katz Yeshiva High School competed this year , in our largest competition to date .
The teams , composed of students portraying three attorneys and three witnesses , competed as both the Prosecution and Defense using a fact pattern , developed by Florida Southern College . This year ’ s case was a criminal one involving an allegation of a severed brake line leading to the driver ’ s death and charges of second-degree murder .
More than 50 Palm Beach County attorneys and judges volunteered to serve as Presiding and Scoring Judges during the 15th Circuit high school mock trial competition . Everyone agreed that this year ’ s competitors were the best yet .
American Heritage prevailed in this year ’ s competition ( for the second year in a row ). They then went on to win the state competition in Orlando to represent Florida at the National High School Mock Trial Championship ( for the second year in a row .) Congratulations to the students and coaches at American Heritage School , you have done the 15th Circuit and Palm Beach County proud . ( Again !) Good luck at Nationals !
This year ’ s winners for Outstanding Advocate were Shia Rozier ( Palm Beach Lakes Community HS ) and Daniel Bednar ( American Heritage ). The winners for Outstanding Witness are Sophia Reynoso ( American Heritage ) & Andrew Perez-Rodriguez ( Wellington High School ). Over 40 students received votes in one of those categories .
The Law Related Education Committee would like to thank the volunteers and congratulate the students for their hard work and outstanding efforts . We can ’ t wait until next year !