Schools

Timothy Christian Takes Top Honors at Mock Trial Invitational

Proceedings held at a Cook County courthouse.

Timothy Christian High School’s Team No. 1 took top honors at the Northwest Suburban Bar Association’s 2011 Mock Trial Invitational.

Each of the nine members of the Elmhurst school’s team also won $5,000 in tuition waivers to John Marshall Law School, which co-sponsored the 15th annual Invitational Feb. 26 in the Circuit Court of Cook County’s 3rd Municipal District courthouse in Rolling Meadows. The waivers are good for 20 years.

Highland Park High School took second place, and those team members received waivers of $3,000 each, while members of the third-place Mundelein High School team received waivers of $2,000 each.

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Blake Cecil of Normal Community High School was named Most Outstanding Attorney, while Mundelein’s Dan Szoke was named “Most Outstanding Witness.”

Fourteen Cook County judges donned their robes on a Saturday morning to preside over the cases, and 44 NWSBA members/attorneys volunteered their time as scoring judges.

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The students spent months preparing for the case, in which Whitney Grey, with a juvenile record of setting fires, stood trial on charges of committing arson with the intent to defraud an insurer.

“Mock Trial not only provides teens with a positive courtroom experience, but also gives them a foundation in the law, including courtroom decorum and traditions,” said Jay Andrew, co-chairman of the Mock Trial with Richard Karwaczka for NWSBA. “Many Mock Trial participants become so enthused that they later go to law school. It’s a wonderful learning experience with the potential to change lives.”

Judge Thomas Roti, who with the Illinois Judges Association assisted NWSBA in organizing the judges for the Mock Trial event, presented the trophies and plaques to the winners. 

After taking first in the NWSBA Invitational, Timothy Christian placed second in the state contest. Glenbard East High School in Lombard tied for third place at the state contest, but did not place at the NWSBA contest.

The 3rd Municipal District’s new presiding judge, the Honorable William Maki, made one of his first public appearances as presiding judge at the Invitational, welcoming students, teachers, visitors, judges and volunteers.

In addition to Judge Roti, judges who participated include Sharon M. Sullivan, Robert E. Senechalle, Jeffrey L. Warnick, Samuel Betar III, Alfred Levinson, Pamela Leeming, John D. Tourtelot, Lauren Edidin, Pamela Loza, Sandra Tristano, Joel Greenblatt, Martin S. Agran and Edward Peitrucha.

Besides co-sponsor John Marshall Law School, the Invitational also was sponsored by the Northwest Suburban Bar Association Foundation, with volunteers from the NWSBA, and funded in part with a grant from the Illinois State Bar Association. 


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