From left are Jamestown High School Mock Trial team coaches and members Assistant Coach Bradley Nelson, Sam Mathis, Keziah Sheriff, Coach John Twinam, Siena Loomis, Skylar McGough, Nolah Hamilton, Nilla Ecklof, and Attorney Coach Eddie Sundquist. Not pictured is Gabby Seekins.

The Jamestown Bar Association hosted the championship Jamestown High School Mock Trial Team at the Jamestown Bar Association meeting recently.

The Jamestown Bar Association Jackson Cup, which honors the Chautauqua County mock trial team winner, was presented to Jamestown High School in honor of its members winning this year’s competition.

The mock trial program has been successfully coordinated by attorney and Chautauqua County Family Court Magistrate Judge Patrick Slagle and his predecessor, attorney Beverly Ungerer. It brings together local high schools to compete on a team basis in a trial setting, presenting cases on behalf of a plaintiff and a defendant. They learn basic trial skills, including direct and cross-examination questioning, delivering opening statements, and delivering closing statements. It is indeed a reenactment of a real trial.

Over the years, this experience has encouraged members of these teams to become attorneys, including most recently, Jamestown and Dunkirk City Attorney Elliot Raimondo and Eddie Sundquist, a local practicing attorney and former Jamestown mayor,. Mock trial is sponsored through the Jamestown Bar Association.