Moot Court is Street Law II Final Exam
Huntington High School Street Law II students closed out the year with a unique final exam project. Business teacher Suzie Biagi organized the course's 5th annual moot court and the teenagers enrolled in the class loved every minute of it.
Students looked forward to the round robin law competition for weeks. It was held in the high school's courtroom complex in room 239. "The newly learned skills and knowledge of the students and the overwhelming generosity of four guest magistrates all came together for a week of real life courtroom drama," Mrs. Biagi said
New York State Supreme Court Justice Paul Baisley and attorneys Patricia Rech, Donald Kiley and Kathleen Evers volunteered to sit on the bench, effectively overseeing the courtroom and ruling on the tort cases brought before them.
"The students in the class presented their cases in teams of three and as the week went on the cases became more and more exciting and masterful," Mrs. Biagi said. Class members previously studied tort litigation, negligence and contract law and courtroom procedures to prepare for their roles as either the plaintiff or defendant.
"The experience was wonderful for all and at the end of each day not only did the magistrates rule, but they also took advantage of the 'teachable moments' set before them and gave their professional input about each case," Mrs. Biagi said. "Four of this semester's students are very interested in the law profession and all of our guests went out of their way to spend time with them answering questions about undergraduate pre-law programs, law schools, internships and the profession as a whole."
The courtroom competition closes out the course "with practical experiences that I hope all the students will remember for years to come," Mrs. Biagi said. "The generosity of our four guest judges went beyond all my expectations. They were wonderful instructors, enthusiastic and charming. Our moot court project would not have been nearly as successful without them."