May 23, 2019: Fayetteville-Manlius High School Wins NYS Mock Trial Tournament

May 23, 2019: Fayetteville-Manlius High School Wins NYS Mock Trial Tournament

5.28.2019

By Communications Department

Fayetteville-Manlius High School in Onondaga County was the winner of the 2019 New York State High School Mock Trial Tournament, sponsored by the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) and held on May 20 and 21 at the James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse in Albany.

The Hon. Mae D’Agostino, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of New York, announced the winner – “by only the smallest of margins” – after a hard-fought final round between the Mount Academy, Ulster County, and Fayetteville-Manlius.

The finals took place following semifinal competition among eight regional finalists. The six other regional finalists included Brooklyn Technical High School, Kings County; Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart, Erie County; Forest Hills High School, Queens County; Northport High School, Suffolk County; Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School, Schenectady County; and the Wheatley School, Nassau County.

“It is a privilege to be surrounded by excellence,” NYSBA President-elect Henry M. Greenberg said at a dinner for the competitors. “Eight teams out of 400 – I am overwhelmed by your commitment and your extraordinary achievement.” He also urged the students to consider law school.

“Being a lawyer is the most influential and consequential profession. It has the greatest impact,” Greenberg told the students, adding that “lawyers are problem solvers. We are the foot soldiers of the Constitution.”

The Hon. Michael Garcia, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, also addressed the students, as did NYSBA’s Committee on Law, Youth and Citizenship Chair Craig Bucki, who recounted his high school mock trial experience.

The regional finalists competing in Monday’s semifinal rounds had prevailed in a field of more than 400 high schools. Members of NYSBA’s Committee on Law, Youth and Citizenship (LYC), acted as observers, scorers, judges and bailiff. In all, the mock trial program had 4,000 student-participants, along with their teacher-coaches. About 1,500 attorneys volunteered their time as did hundreds of judges.

The Mock Trial Tournament was created by the New York State Bar Association in 1978, and the first statewide tournament was held in 1982. The New York State High School Mock Trial Tournament is one of the largest in the country. It is administered by NYSBA’s Committee on Law, Youth and Citizenship and supported by the New York Bar Foundation.

About the New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. Since 1876, NYSBA has helped shape the development of law, educated and informed the legal profession and the public, and championed the rights of New Yorkers through advocacy and guidance in our communities.

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Contact: Joan Fucillo 
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