Connolly Gallagher Attorneys Coach Local High School Mock Trial Team

Two members of our Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Alan Silverstein and Karen Bifferato, concluded another successful season of coaching the mock trial team at Howard Vo-Tech High School, which is located just a few blocks from our firm in downtown Wilmington.

The mock trial season begins in November of each year and concludes with a state competition that is held in the beginning of March. This year, Howard’s team placed 15th out of the 26 private and public school teams that participated in the state-wide competition.

The Howard students became attorneys, witnesses, and time keepers, and they presented both sides of an entire criminal case before a Judge and jury members in a Delaware state court room. Participation in mock trial requires months of hard work and mastery of the case materials, Rules of Evidence, and Rules of the Competition.

The Howard students competing this year had a fantastic energy about them, and due to that energy, their hard work, and their quick thinking and ability to pivot and adapt, the Howard students collectively were awarded 5 gavels by the scoring judges for “Best Witness” and “Best Attorney” during all four rounds of the competition. All but one of the students were freshmen and sophomores, and Karen and Alan look forward to all of the students returning to compete in next year’s mock trial competition.