MLC School returns to NSW Law Society Mock Trials

This year, MLC School has returned to the NSW Mock Trial competition after a number of years without a team. The School does, however, have a rich history in the competition, winning the title in 1997 and 1999 under the guidance of Michele Johnson (OG 1973).

Each trial consists of a team of two barristers, a solicitor, two witnesses and a magistrate’s clerk. The team acts as either the prosecution or the defence in a criminal or civil case, competing against other schools to win the trial.

The team’s first experience participating in a trial was against Merewether High School. It was the first time the students had participated in a scored trial, and they were allocated to the defence. They did a valiant job of dissecting the case and constructing arguments defending their accused on charges of deliberately placing a tree over railway tracks in order to bring attention to an environmental agenda. The students were successful in clearing the accused of charges, but lost the mock trial by one point.

– Joanna Graffen
Head of Senior School