Congratulations to the New Glarus Mock Trial team, finishing a best-ever third place in the Madison regional tournament. And congratulations to attorney-coaches Faun Phillipson and Dan Gartzke and  teacher-coach, Lexa Speth.

Team members are, from left, front row: Tessa Sheridan, Callista Lahey, Jenna Anderson, Stacy Benoy, Merrick Fong, Michael Schieldt; back row: Luna Hakim-Meibodi, Ellawyn Fong, Annalee Kaiser, Lily Lounsbury, Ella Shaw, Heather Niceschwander, Ben Copeland, Anderson Justmann.

March 6, 2019 – Following competitions in 11 regional tournaments, 22 teams are headed to the semifinals and finals of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s 36th Annual High School Mock Trial Competition.

A total of 121 teams – and more than 1,000 students – traveled to regional trials in 11 courthouses around the state to participate in the program that started in 1983.

Mock trial volunteer judge, Corey Montiho

Each team appeared before a jury of volunteer attorneys who assess their performance and ability to argue their side of the case, including Corey A. Montiho of Phillips & Gemignani LLC, in Waukesha.

It was the first time as a high school mock trial judge for Montiho. “The students’ poise and the cadence of their deliveries was beyond anything I expected,” he said. He did his best to help them with nerves. “I reminded them that they had prepared for months, and today was the day. Even if they were nervous, they were ready,” he said.

And they proved him right. “At the conclusion of the trial, I told them that, if they were this well prepared and this talented at their age, that I sincerely looked forward to seeing them in a courtroom someday – just hopefully not as opposing counsel,” Montiho said.

Headed to Madison – and on to Georgia

The top 22 teams, listed below, head to the semifinal tournament, March 8 and 9, in Madison. The two finalists will appear before judges in the State Capitol building in the state finals competition in Madison on March 10. The winner of the state finals will compete in the Mock Trial National Championship in Athens, Georgia, on May 16-18, 2019.

The mock trial program provides high school students with an opportunity to act as attorneys and witnesses in a court case developed by State Bar members. This year’s students – in teams of six to 12 – unravel a fictional criminal case, State v. Kelsey Grammar, involving a shooting in a school.

The Mock Trial program is funded by a generous grant from the Wisconsin Law Foundation, the charitable arm of the State Bar of Wisconsin, supporting law-related education and public service programs statewide.

The 2019 Mock Trial Regional Winners

Congratulations to these teams, who will compete in the semifinals: