March 18, 2009 – Xavier High School from Appleton won the Mock Trial state championship on Monday after narrowly beating Shorewood High School. The teams argued a hypothetical environmental contamination case before all seven Wisconsin Supreme Court justices.
“We had a split court,” said Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson acknowledging it was a difficult decision and both teams were superb. “For us [the court] there are two first places, but the State Bar won’t let us do that.”
Acknowledging the students who played the witness roles, Abrahamson said, “It’s not easy. The court watches you as you are sitting there to see if you remain in your character. Well done, a marvelous job.”
Abrahamson also acknowledged the lawyers who wrote the case. “Hat’s off to the people who wrote this case. This was one of the more complicated and sophisticated problems – right down to the environmentalist engineers,” she said. This year’s case was written by Environmental Law Section members who also made a significant contribution to assist in staging the competition.
Fourteen Wisconsin high school teams, each comprising six to twelve students, competed in the semifinals at the Dane County Courthouse on Sunday. More than 40 volunteer judges and lawyers judged the all-day competition. The long day concluded at a State Bar-sponsored banquet when the two winning teams were announced
State Bar President Diane Diel addressed the 270 students, their lawyer and teacher coaches, and parents. “On behalf of the 23,000 members of the State Bar I am pleased and proud to welcome all of you enthusiastic and energetic participants in our Mock Trial Program,” she said. “This is an opportunity that the Bar prides itself in to allow young people to experience law in action and to begin to understand what fair and impartial justice is all about.” Diel urged all of the participants who are 18 to vote in the upcoming April election pointing out that “when you begin to learn what fair and impartial justice is all about at the young age of 17, you will take it with you all of your life.”
The Mock Trial program is sponsored by the Wisconsin Law Foundation.
Xavier will represent Wisconsin at the national Mock Trial Championship in Atlanta in May.
