HARRISBURG (March 27, 2007) - The State College Area High School Mock Trial Team is one of 12 Pennsylvania high school teams advancing to the Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Championships, Friday, March 30, and Saturday, March 31, at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg. The winning team of the state championship will represent Pennsylvania in the national mock trial finals to be held May 10-13 in Dallas, Texas.

"The top 12 teams are the 'best of the best' of this year's statewide competition and we look forward to watching the students in action," said Justin B. Goldstein, chair, Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, which sponsors the competition. "It will take teamwork and strong communication and analytical skills to claim the title of 2007 Mock Trial Champions."

All 12 teams will compete in two quarterfinal rounds from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday. The four winning teams of the quarterfinal rounds will advance to the semifinal round at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. The state championship round will take place at noon on Saturday with Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge J. Michael Eakin presiding. All events will take place at the Dauphin County Courthouse.

This year, 286 teams from 251 schools competed in the district and regional levels of Pennsylvania's mock trial competition - one of the largest in the nation. This year's fictional case centers on a series of threatening remarks that appeared on a high school-run Internet chat room, which a student claims caused severe emotional distress resulting in lower grades and loss of a valedictorian scholarship.

During the competition, eight-member student teams are given the opportunity to argue both sides of the case in an actual courtroom before a judge. The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants, are assisted by teacher coaches and lawyer advisors in preparing for competition. Volunteer lawyers and community leaders serve as jurors in the trials. The juries determine the winners in each trial based on the teams' abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments and follow court rules.

The State College Area High School Mock Trial Team is composed of Eli Kozminsky, Julien Nagarajan, Bobby Pakzad-Hurson, Arkasha Pevzner, Avinash Samarth and Kunal Vakharia. The teacher coaches are Steven Lachman and Matthew Lachman. Steven Lachman is also the lawyer advisor.

For more information on the 2007 Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Championships, visit the PBA Web site at http://www.pabar.org/public/yld.