Hinsdale Central High School is statewide mock trial champion

Hinsdale Central High School placed first in the 30th annual Illinois State Bar Association High School Mock Trial Invitational held at the University of Illinois at Springfield on Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31, 2012.

Timothy Christian High School in Elmhurst came in second place, and third place went to St. Charles North High School. Teams from 44 Illinois high schools traveled to Springfield to participate in the program.

Hinsdale Central High School will represent the state of Illinois at the National High School Mock Trial Championship which will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 3-6, 2012.

“The mock trial program is a rare opportunity for Illinois high school students to compete in a high-level academic endeavor,” says Lauren E. DeJong of Park Ridge, chair of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public, which conducts the program.

Evanston Township High School in Evanston and Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale tied for the highest team average on the Written Law Exam, and Andrea Shen, from Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, had the highest individual test score.

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, the case involved the estate of the late Estelle Heeney-Potter, a wealthy widow, and her two estranged adult children – Addison and Alexi Heeney-Potter, who vigorously contested the Will. Estimated at over $20 million, the estate left $10 million to establish a trust to care for the pets, and included provisions to pay an annual salary of the pet keeper, Riley Rendlow, who is to remain in the home to care for the animals. The trust also will pay for the upkeep of the mansion, land, out-buildings, automobiles, as well as ensure financial provisions for veterinary visits to the property on a quarterly basis to check on the animals, provisions for pet food and other necessities for their care. The children contested the Will, stating that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity to create the Will, and that the defendants unduly influenced the decedent in the creation of the Will.

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 Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago co-sponsored the event.