Granby Jr.-Sr. High School mock trial team coached by NWDA's Caitlyn Rock wins verdict in first match-up
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Caitlyn Rock and her mock trial team from Granby Junior-Senior High School presented the winning arguments in their first mock trial, held Jan. 24 in Northampton District Court.
Rock is the “attorney coach” for the team, one of over 100 teams statewide participating in the 27th Annual Mock Trial Program presented by the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Rock’s team includes 20 juniors and seniors who played the role of defense attorneys and witnesses in a mock civil law suit against a teacher by the guardian of a student who was bullied in school and subsequently hospitalized.
The plaintiff alleges that the defendant was negligent in her duties as a teacher for not stopping or preventing the bullying.
Attorney Leslie Curley was the mock judge in the case and ruled for the defense with the opposing team from Pioneer Valley Regional High School scoring higher by one point in the performance section of the competition.
“Working with the Granby high school students has been a wonderful experience for me, and I am amazed at how the students have developed their analytical and legal skills in such a short time period,” Rock said.
“There definitely could be some future litigators in this group.”
The Granby team will enact the plaintiff’s role in their next match-up against the Tantasqua Regional High School team from Fiskdale in Palmer District Court on Feb. 6.
Four teams will advance to the semi-final elimination round and compete during trials held simultaneously on March 19 in Boston and Worcester with two finalists advancing to the state championship to be held on March 23 in the Great Hall of Faneuil Hall in Boston
Other teams from the Northwestern district participating this year are: Ralph C. Mahar Regional School of Orange, Hopkins Academy of Hadley, and the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School of South Hadley, which won the state championship in 2011 and placed 31st in the national tournament.
The Massachusetts Bar Association administers the Mock Trial Program, which is made possible by the international law firm of Brown Rudnick LLP through its Center for the Public Interest in Boston, which has contributed $25,000 per year to the program since 1998.