Mock Trial

Advisors: Adi Zimmerman

Meeting Dates: Wednesdays, Rooms 264

Club members will be introduced to basic trial techniques, simplified rules of evidence, the importance of effective communication and team work. From September through December, students will serve as lawyers and witnesses in both criminal and civil trials. Students will try out for Hauppauge’s competition team in December and join the countywide Mock Trial competition, with the winning team moving to the NYS finals. Teams of 6-12 students compete four times in a multiple-elimination round tournament. Schools are assigned a lawyer-coach from the Suffolk County Bar Association to work the team. The official case, written by the New York State Bar Association’s (NYSBA’s) Law, Youth and Citizenship committee, is released in December and the multiple elimination rounds run from February through March. The playoff rounds are in the end of March and April with the statewide competition in Albany in May.