Chatham Glenwood High School is Statewide Mock Trial Champion

Chatham Glenwood High School placed first in the 29^th annual Illinois State Bar Association High School Mock Trial Invitational held at the University of Illinois at Springfield on Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5, 2011. Timothy Christian High School in Elmhurst came in second place, and tying for third were Glenbard East High School in Lombard and Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale. Teams from 47 Illinois high schools traveled to Springfield to participate in the program. Chatham Glenwood High School will represent the state of Illinois at the National High School Mock Trial Championship which will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, May 5-7, 2011. “The mock trial program is a rare opportunity for Illinois high school students to compete in a high-level academic endeavor,” says Pablo A. Eves of Bloomington, chair of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law-Related Education for the Public, which conducts the program. Evanston Township had the highest team average on the Written Law Exam, and an Honorable Mention went to Hinsdale Central.  The top 6 for individual scores were: Anthony Anginlo, Glenbard North in Carol Stream; Kendall Karr, St. Charles North; Anne Kelly, Hinsdale Central; Henry Leaman, St. Charles East; Nathan Richards, Deerfield High School; and Ben Shane, Chatham Glenwood. Each 10-member team tries both sides – plaintiff and defense – of a hypothetical case developed by the ISBA Standing Committee on Law-Related Education for the Public.  This year’s case was the People of the State of Illinois, complainant, vs. Whitney Grey, defendant, who was on trial for committing arson with the intent to defraud an insurer.  Grey, who has a juvenile record of having started two fires in the city of Thunderbird, Ill., was accused of knowingly starting a fire at Bellows & O’Brien Pub in Thunderbird, where he/she performed various duties including a bartender, runner, server, cleaning crew, etc.  The pub was co-owned by Ashton Bellows and Lane O’Brien; Bellows wanted out of the business and expressed interest in selling his/her share to O’Brien, but O’Brien needed time to gather adequate funding. The high school mock trials have been conducted each year since 1982 by the Illinois State Bar Association to provide Illinois high school students an interesting and challenging way to gain insight into the American judicial system. The 33,000 member ISBA, with offices in Springfield and Chicago, provides professional services to Illinois member attorneys, and education to the public.