Heschel School Returns to Mock Trial State Tournament for Second Time in Three Years
5.11.2026
The Heschel School’s mock trial team is energized to return to the state tournament for the second time in three years. The Manhattan school recently won the regional title and the New York City Mock Trial title.
“How surreal it’s been to start on mock trial as freshmen. I was a paralegal that year and reached the finals. We learned so much from the upperclassmen,” said senior Bobby Covit. “From there stepping into greater team roles in the following years and now surpassing [the success of those] who we looked up to. This success is a wonderful bookend to our mock trial careers.”
Team members are excited to share the experience of the state tournament with the newer members of the team.
“We get an advantage because we’ve been to states before, we know everybody is excellent. We know everybody is super prepared in the same way we are,” said senior Eden Litt. “We are excited to come back and bring our whole team. We want to give the younger kids on our team the experience of having a 10-trial season, so that they can go off as we did, graduate and really excel.”
Following their win in 2023, the Heschel mock trial program saw an explosion of interest. Faculty coach David Steinberg says the number of students trying out for the team quadrupled in size. Students also share that there has been an emergence of a mock trial culture in the wider Heschel community.
“Family and friends are coming to our matches to sit in the court,” said senior Pierce Malter. “We’ve had the most spectators this year than we have ever seen.”
That sense of community bonds the team and helps them make the most of their mock trial experience.
“In our freshman year, we became very good friends with each other and with some of the surrounding schools at States,” said senior Hannah Wurzburger. “We were all very encouraging of each other and supportive, and it was a great opportunity to meet new people. I think our school in general is very community-oriented and that closeness totally translates to our team.”
The NYSBA Mock Trial program celebrates its 44th year of competition this year. There are 400 teams involving 4,000 high school students in the competition. The program is sponsored by the New York State Bar Association’s Law, Youth and Citizenship Committee. The New York Bar Foundation provides some of the funding.
