Edelson PC hosted an educational seminar for south suburban Cook County high school students Dec. 7 in preparation of the Illinois State Bar Association’s High School Mock Trial Invitational.

The mock trial invitational program, which is co-administered by the ISBA and the Illinois Trial Team of the University of Illinois, provides an opportunity for students to learn what it is like to prepare and present a legal case before the Illinois courts. Participating students gain a better understanding of the justice system and improve their knowledge, skills, and ability to articulate in a reasoned, thoughtful manner.

To qualify, teams must compete in one of the regional competitions that are held throughout the state in February.

“As you can imagine, the schools that are lucky enough to have a budget for these types of activities take the competition very seriously and treat the mock trial team as they would any varsity team – they have dedicated coaches that practice with them every day after school and a travel budget,” said Ari Scharg, an attorney with Edelson. “Most high school students in south suburban Cook County aren't lucky enough to have those opportunities, and until a few years ago, none of the students from that area ever competed in the competition. To turn things around, the judges in the Sixth Municipal District formed a committee to encourage south suburban students to compete and to find attorney-coaches for each of their teams.”

Edelson started hosting a seminar in 2017 that was open to all of the high school mock trial teams participating in the regional competition. Attorneys and staff served as coaches and judges for the day to help the students prepare for their upcoming mock trial competition and gave meaningful feedback. Attorneys joined the students for breakfast and lunch and talked about what it's like to be a lawyer and work at a law firm.

This year, more than 40 students attended the training session at Edelson’s office.