Mock Trial Team Prepares

Students at Cathedral 7-12 High School are studying witness testimony, rehearsing cross-examinations, and preparing arguments they will deliver in a courtroom. These students aren’t lawyers (yet), they’re members of Cathedral High School’s Mock Trial team. They are among 130 high schools participating in the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Mock Trial Competition this year.

For three months, students research, rehearse, and prepare to argue a fictitious case—this year a civil case—but little else is fictitious. The case is tried and argued in a real courtroom—Boston Municipal Court for Cathedral students—before a judge and under the guidance of experienced lawyers.

2019-2020 Mock Trial Team at Cathedral High School Boston

Students and Advisors of Cathedral High School’s 2019-2020 Mock Trial Team

Applied learning, a hands-on approach to education, is a central theme at Cathedral 7-12 High School. The Mock Trial team is just one of the many ways Cathedral students get to put classroom concepts into practice.

Attorney Tim Malley from the law firm of Capplis, Connors and Carroll has been the attorney adviser to the Cathedral team, coaching students in legal procedures and strategies. “Mock trial is an incredible opportunity for students,” noted Mr. Malley. “We fight for our beliefs unconsciously all the time, and mock trial gives young people the foundational tools they need to present themselves and their positions in a way that’s logical, methodical, and persuasive.”

Cathedral will argue the case versus Maimonides High School, Boston Latin Academy, and Beaver Country Day School, alternating as the defense and plaintiff.