Each year, the D.C. Street Law Project culminates with a Mock Trial Tournament. This tournament pits teams of students from District of Columbia high schools against each other in a test of advocacy.

    Coached by their law student instructors and lawyers from mentor law firms, the high school students prepare over a six week period to be lawyers and witnesses in a complex and controversial case. During that time, they master the facts, analyze the witness statements, statutes, case law and documents, hone their oral skills, practice courtroom procedures, and master trial skills and rules of evidence. The contestants litigate a hypothetical lawsuit based on a complex scenario composed by the clinic staff. Superior Court judges, local attorneys and law students volunteer their time to serve as judges and scorers.

    The two preliminary rounds of the competition are held at the Superior Court in the District of Columbia. Approximately 400 students in up to 40 teams from all street law classes participate in the tournament. Over 400 parents, teachers, principals, and friends have observed the trials each night. The final round of the tournament takes place in the moot courtroom at the Georgetown University Law Center.

 

	1999 Mock Trial Tournament Finals Chief Judge Eugene Hamilton of the District of Columbia Superior Court presiding over the 1999 Mock Trial Tournament Final.

Revised July 2, 2003 (ML)