January 2017 – Justice Resource Center

Call for Judges for Mock Trial

The 2017 NYSBA High School Mock Trial Tournament is underway. The Justice Resource Center, NYC coordinator of this premier law-related competition, is currently recruiting volunteer judges.

More than 90 schools from all five boroughs will meet at one of three courthouses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens from February 28th to April 26th. Serving as a judge requires a time commitment of a few hours on a weekday evening, and prior knowledge of the case and tournament rules. Information about this year’s case, tournament rules, scoring guidelines and more can be found at http://www.nysba.org/mtcase/

Volunteer judges who are members in good standing of the New York State Bar Association and are also admitted to the New York State Bar for at least two years are eligible for up to three (3) CLE credits for their service. Past volunteers can receive CLE credits once every two years for their service in the Mock Trial Tournament.

Please see the application for complete details. If you are interested in serving as a judge, please complete this application and submit to mocktrialjudges@gmail.com or fax to (212) 580-5918 no later than February 6, 2017.

Bronx High School of Science Wins Moot Court Finals

December 15, 2016 – Congratulations to Bronx High School of Science for their victory in the 2016 MENTOR Moot Court Finals! The team competed against Forest Hills High School at the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse on December 15 with five federal judges presiding. Several participating schools, attorneys and educators came to watch as both finalists gave their arguments. Many thanks to all participants this year!

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Forest Hills High School Wins “We the People” City Competition

Saturday, December 10, 2016 – Congratulations to Forest Hills High School, James Madison High School, and Townsend Harris High School for earning the top three spots in the 2016 We The People NYC competition! They will be competing in Albany at the New York State Finals in February 2017. This year’s citywide competition was held at MLK High School, hosted by the Justice Resource Center. Classes of students from Forest Hills High School, James Madison High School, Townsend Harris High School, Harry S. Truman High School, Edward R. Murrow High School, and William Cullen Bryant High School presented arguments about the Constitution’s relevance and answered judges’ questions during rounds of mock Congressional hearings.

The We the People competition is the yearly culminating event of the NYC program. Teams of students present for four minutes based on the six units in the text. Volunteer attorneys, politicians, and professors serve on the judges panel, and ask students questions for the final six minutes of the competition. Each team is scored based on their overall performance.

JRC Hosts Russian Attorneys

The Justice Resource Center hosted a delegation of attorneys from St. Petersburg and Moscow in December as part of the U.S.-Russia Peer-to-Peer Dialogue Program sponsored by the U.S. State Department to enhance pro bono activities with the school-age population in Russia. Delegates from the JRC visited Russia weeks prior in anticipation of this visit.

In order to replicate the success of JRC programs in their home cities, the attorneys visited our partners in law-related education at the NYC Law Department, City Bar, Federal Courts, and law firms Clifford Chance, USA and Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. They were also able to observe a roleplay session of The Constitution Works as well as the citywide finals of MENTOR: Moot Court. Their visit concluded with a workshop on Constitutional Law by Columbia Professor Chris Riano held at the JRC offices.

Submissions Open for Public High School Law Essay Contest

The Law-Related Education Committee of the New York County Lawyer’s Association (NYCLA) announced that they are now taking submissions for their annual NYC Public High School Essay Contest.

The top three essays will receive cash prizes totaling $1,250. For this year’s essay topic and submission guidelines, please click here. The deadline for essay submissions is March 1, 2017.