DISD Students Participate in T&K Annual Mock Trial Event

© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.

By Joseph S. Pevsner
Special Contributing Writer for The Texas Lawbook

(June 6) – More than 50 students from Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ Rising Star Council and Dallas ISD High Schools participated in this year’s Thompson & Knight Trial Academy at the George Allen Courthouse in downtown Dallas.

Students from James Madison High School and the Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet acted as fact witnesses and jurors for five fictional civil trials involving breach of contract claims and fraud counterclaims. Associates and summer associates from Thompson & Knight acted as attorneys and expert witnesses, while firm partners served as judges, mentors and jury observers throughout the two-day event that took place May 30 and 31. Each trial was decided by a panel of 11 or 12 jurors, including Rising Star Council members from five DISD high schools; students, teachers, and parents from James Madison High School; and friends and family of Thompson & Knight attorneys and staff members.

“We believe the Trial Academy is a meaningful and practical program that encourages high school students to act on their dreams of becoming members of the legal profession,” says Nicole Williams, the event’s coordinator and a partner in Thompson & Knight’s Dallas office. “Our attorneys have assisted James Madison High School with their mock trial program since 2009, and we also founded a scholarship program for the school’s mock trial program. The students look forward to the Academy every year, and so do our lawyers.”

The fictional case for this year’s event was Donatella Enterprises, LLC v. Wegle Engineering Corporation. Jurors were presented with evidence that Donatella was a vendor for Wegle when it was discovered that a Wegle vice president had made an investment in Donatella around the time the company was selected for an upcoming construction project. After firing the vice president, Wegle terminated the contract that it believed was procured by fraud, and the lawsuit followed.

After hearing four hours of testimony and arguments, the juries deliberated for 30 minutes and returned four verdicts for the plaintiff, with damage awards ranging from $300,000 to $2.3 million. One verdict was decided in the defendant’s favor, with a damages award of $330,000.

The members of the winning teams were: Nathan Aduddell, John Atkins, Jane Cherry, Matt Cornelia, Janelle Davis, Nadia Haghighatian, Emily Miller, Meghan Nylin, Nathan Palmer, Vishal Patel, Reed Randel, Monica Raspino, Michael Schneider and Tracy Smith.

Four students who participated in the 2014 Trial Academy are joining Thompson & Knight as summer interns — Bre’Ann Geter and Branlon Allen from James Madison High and Tyffany Robles and Jennifer Romero from the Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet.

Mr. Pevsner serves as Thompson & Knight’s Trial Department Leader and focuses his practice on products liability, toxic torts and asbestos, business litigation, and construction cases before state and federal trial and appellate courts.

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