Kansas Bar Association Sponsored Mock Trial Competition
Seeks Registrants

(Jan. 23, 2006) Topeka, KS—The Kansas Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section is sponsoring the 2006 High School Mock Trial Competition. The regional tournaments will be March 4 at the Johnson and Sedgwick County courthouses. The state tournament will be April 1, in Kansas City, Kan. The winner of the state tournament will receive a scholarship to compete at the national competition on May 13 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Mock trial rules, registration, and case materials can be accessed on the KBA’s Web site at http://www.ksbar.org/public/mocktrial.shtml. The 2006 mock trial case is State of Independence vs. Sandy Townsend. Deadline to register is Feb. 10.

Mock trials have proven to be an effective and popular part of the comprehensive, law-focused program designed to provide young people with an operational understanding of the law, legal issues, and the judicial process. Participation in, and analysis of, mock trials provides young people with an insider's perspective from which to learn about courtroom procedures.

The mock trial program improves proficiency in basic skills: listening, reading, and reasoning; promotes better communication and cooperation between the educational and legal communities; provides a competitive event in an academic atmosphere; and promotes cooperation among young people of various abilities and interests.

“Mock trials help students gain a basic understanding of the legal mechanism through which society chooses to resolve many of its disputes,” said Amy Fellows-Cline, Triplett Woolf & Garretson LLC, Wichita, KBA mock trial coordinator.

The Independent High School, Wichita, represented Kansas at the 2005 National High School Mock Trial Championship in Charlotte, N.C.

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