The Bar’s Law Related Education Committee is recruiting volunteers to help the Florida Law Related Education Association staff its annual competitions for high school students.

“We will be helping to increase the visibility of and support for the incredible efforts of the Florida Law Related Education Association,” said Chair Dana Bivins Brown of Jacksonville.

The Law Related Education Committee works closely with the nonprofit FLREA to advance law related education initiatives ranging from academic competitions and law magnet programs to curriculum development and teacher training.

“The Florida Law Related Education Association has worked hand in hand with LRE since its inception,” said Brown, adding that FLREA requires the assistance of hundreds of volunteers annually to judge mock trial competitions, evaluate briefs for moot court, assess the constitutional knowledge of students in academic simulations, and assist with the development of materials.

This year, LRE will be developing the case materials for the high school mock trial program, which requires approximately 200 volunteers annually to implement circuit and state competitions.

The case will address underage drinking and drunk driving, and the case scenario is being adapted by a subcommittee of LRE members led by Janeia Daniels of Florida State University College of Law.

“We wanted to incorporate a topic that high school students could relate to on a personal and social level,” said Daniels, who also serves as a board member for FLREA.

The Florida High School Mock Trial Competition is an academic competition in which a team of eight students simulate the roles of both attorneys and witnesses in a fictional trial situation. Students compete against other teams in their judicial circuit, and the winners advance to the state finals, which will be held next March at the Orange County Courthouse. Students compete in four rounds of competition at the state finals to advance to the championship round. The winning team represents Florida in the national finals.

The moot court competition serves as a companion program to the mock trial competition and allows students the opportunity to experience the appellate process firsthand. Students write briefs based on an issue on appeal from the mock trial case.
If selected for oral argument, teams of students argue before district court of appeals judges and Supreme Court justices in the final rounds.

Hundreds of volunteers are needed to judge trials as presiding and scoring judges in the mock trial competition. Appellate lawyers are needed to evaluate briefs in preparation for the moot court competition. Attorneys and judges are also needed to judge "We the People, the Citizen and the Constitution" mock congressional hearings competition annually.

Brown said the Bar’s LRE committee also continues to assist FLREA in seeking independent sources of funding for each of the programs as well as a host of other initiatives including scholarship programs, government in action initiatives, and professional development training for teachers.
Those interested in volunteering or sponsoring the competitions may contact Annette Pitts, executive director of FLREA, at abpflreaed@aol.com or visit the FLREA’s Web site at www.flrea.org for a calendar of events for the year.