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Joshua A. McGuire, Mock Trial Committee Chair

27th Annual Statewide High School Mock Trial Program

Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School in South Hadley wins MBA 2012 Mock Trial State Championship

BOSTON, Mass.- Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School in South Hadley was today named State Champion of the Massachusetts Bar Association's 2012 Mock Trial Program, their second championship in a row. The finals were held at Faneuil Hall in Boston.

The high school now advances to the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Albuquerque, New Mexico from May 3-6. A portion of the trip will be funded by a donation from the MBA's philanthropic partner, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation. Pioneer Valley won the championship last year and in 2006.

Pioneer Valley and Marshfield High school competed during a nearly three-hour mock trial in Faneuil Hall's Great Hall. Pioneer Valley represented the plaintiff, Alex Soltin, a Huffington Falls high school junior who was the victim of bullying and suffered a mental breakdown. The defendant in the civil trial was Allen Sway, a teacher at Baird Academy. Marshfield represented Sway, charged with negligence for not stopping of reporting the bullying suffered by Soltin. 

District Court Presiding Justice Barbara Savitt Pearson presided over the mock trial and was assisted by Superior Court Associate Justice Janet Kenton-Walker and Superior Court Associate Justice John T. Lu.

"You have been stars, all of you. It's remarkable to me," said Pearson, who suggested many practicing attorneys could learn from the articulate and composed students. "It was terrific and you really should be so proud of yourselves."

Pearson said Pioneer Valley was victorious in proving the teacher, Sway, was negligent. That win, however, did not mean Pioneer Valley would automatically take the championship. The judges determined, by a vote of two to one, that Pioneer Valley was the victor because it received the higher score. The judges based their calculations on a number of factors including presentation and knowledge of both the case and law.

The Mock Trial Program is administered by the MBA, and made possible by the international law firm of Brown Rudnick through its Center for the Public Interest in Boston, which has contributed $25,000 per year to the program since 1998.