Annual Mock Trial Invitational held via Zoom

For the past 16 years, the hallways and courtrooms of the Lake County Courthouse came alive on the Annual Mock Trial Invitational day.

However, due to COVID mitigation measures, Saturday morning looked very different for the judges, volunteers, coaches, and students as the competition transitioned into Lake County's first remote Mock Trial Invitational.

Like attorneys, defendants and litigants with active cases at the 19h Judicial Circuit, Zoom IDs and passwords were issued to teachers and students to allow them the ability to participate from the comforts of their own homes. Livestreaming links were also provided to nonparticipants to observe the competition.

And rather than an in-person welcome from Chief Judge Diane Winter and event chairs Circuit Judge Christen Bishop, Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti and Associate Judge Stephen DeRue, the participants heard directly from the judge presiding over their case.

The 28 high school teams competing against one another included students from Bartlett High School, Carmel Catholic High School, Chicago Christian High School, College Preparatory School of America, De La Salle Institute, Dunlap High School, Evanston Township High School, Glenbard East High School, Highland Park High School, Hinsdale South High School, Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Libertyville High School, Maine South High School, Maine West High School, Mundelein High School, Niles West High School, Normal Community West High School, South Elgin High School, Southland College Prep High School, St. Charles East High School, St. Charles North High School (two teams), Stevenson High School, Thornton Township High School, Timothy Christian School, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Whitney M. Young Magnet High School and York Community High School.

By 8:45 a.m., the students were logged on to their assigned courtrooms to begin their virtual trials. The mock trial, selected by the Illinois State Bar Association, was titled "People of the State of Illinois v. Jordan Markson." The case involved the offense of drug-induced homicide, in that the defendant unlawfully caused the death of another subject by knowingly delivering a substance containing a controlled substance.

The teams tried the case, with the students performing in the roles of attorneys and witnesses. Lake County Judges Luis Berrones, Michael Betar, Rhonda Bruno, Stephen DeRue, Ari Fisz, Patricia Fix, Bolling Haxall, Charles Johnson, Christopher Kennedy, Reginald Mathews, Jacqueline Melius, Veronica O'Malley, James Simonian and George Strickland presided over the trials.

While this year there was only one trial for each team, no scoring, and no awards, teams were required to practice, work together, and collaborate before presenting their case over the Zoom platform.

Assistant state's attorneys, assistant public defenders, and practicing trial attorneys volunteered to evaluate the students on their ability, presentation, and effectiveness with constructive feedback to help the students and coaches prepare for the state competition that is being held virtually in mid-March.