Middle school students prepare for 2022 Regional SC Bar Mock Trial competitions events to be held in Columbia, Georgetown and Lexington on Nov. 5
November 1, 2022
Twenty-eight middle schools from across the state will compete in the 22nd annual SC Bar Regional Middle School Mock Trial competition on from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 5. The competition will be held in person for the first time in two years with trials at courthouses in Columbia, Georgetown and Lexington.
Students will present the prosecution and defense sides of a fictitious criminal case before a panel of local volunteer lawyers and judges. Additionally, students will fill the roles of attorneys, witnesses, bailiffs, and timekeepers.
“We are especially excited that the students will have the opportunity to compete in person for the first time in over two years,” said Cynthia H. Cothran, Law Related Education director of the South Carolina Bar. “Through this program, students not only learn about the court process but critical thinking, problem analysis, and teamwork. The best thing to see is students growing up in the program. I have watched middle school students participate in High School Mock Trial, go to college, enroll in law school, and then become South Carolina attorneys that volunteer in the very program that gave them their passion for law.”
This year’s fictitious case is State of SC v. Cy Miles, in which Cy Miles has been indicted for murder or voluntary manslaughter. Each team will be judged on its presentation skills, rather than the legal merits of the case.
Participating middle schools in the competition include:
Georgetown Regional Competition held at Georgetown County Courthouse, 401 Cleland St., Georgetown, 29440:
- Cario Middle School of Mount Pleasant
- Buist Academy for Advanced Studies of Charleston
- Moultrie Middle School of Mount Pleasant
- Palmetto Academy of Learning & Success of Myrtle Beach
- Phillip Simmons Middle School of Wando
- St. Andrew Catholic School of Myrtle Beach
- Simmons-Pinckney Middle School of Charleston
- Ten Oaks Middle School Myrtle Beach
Whittemore Park Middle School of Conway
Columbia Regional Competition held at Richland County Central Court Decker Center, 2500 Decker Blvd., Columbia, 29206:
- Blythewood Middle School of Blythewood
- Bob Jones Academy of Greenville
- Chester Middle School of Chester
- Crayton Middle School of Columbia
- Dent Middle School of Columbia
- Forest Creek Middle School of Ft. Mill
- Green Charter Middle School of Greenville
- Hand Middle School of Columbia
- Longleaf Middle School of Columbia
- Pleasant Knoll Middle School of Ft. Mill
- WA Perry Middle School of Columbia
Lexington Regional competition held at Marc H. Westbrook Judicial Center, 205 East Main St., Lexington, 29072:
- Chapin Middle of Chapin
- Dutch Fork Middle School of Irmo
- Irmo Middle School of Irmo
- Jackson Magnet Middle School of Jackson
- JET: Johnston Edgefield Trenton Middle School of Johnston
- Kennedy Middle School of Aiken
- Liberty Middle School of Liberty
- Seneca Classical Academy of Seneca
The Mock Trial Program is sponsored by the SC Bar’s LRE Division, which was developed in 1976 to improve the ability of teachers to instruct law related education. The program is supported by the Bar’s LRE Committee and made possible through a SC Bar Foundation Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts grant and the SC Bar.
The South Carolina Bar is a statewide organization dedicated to improving the legal profession, the law and the administration of justice for all South Carolinians. It serves more than 17,000 lawyer members and provides resources to educators and citizens of the Palmetto State. Learn more at www.scbar.org
