Goshen and Washingtonville advance in Mock Trial Tournament

The Orange-Ulster BOCES’ Mock Trial Program continued on Saturday, March 25 at the OU BOCES campus with teams from eight school districts competing. The competing school districts were Chester, Goshen, Highland Falls, Middletown, Monroe-Woodbury, Port Jervis, Warwick, and Washingtonville. At the end of the day, two teams -Washingtonville and Goshen - came out as the winners of the semifinals. The two teams will face off in a real courtroom before the Honorable Judge E. Loren Williams at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28 at the Orange County Courthouse in Goshen. The winner will then advance to the Mock Trials Regional Tournament.

The  tournament started on March 18 at OU BOCES with ten teams: Chester, Goshen, Highland Falls, Minisink, Middletown, Monroe-Woodbury, Newburgh, Port Jervis, Warwick, and Washingtonville. Eight of those teams scored enough points to progress to Saturday’s competition. Mock Trial is an educational program designed to teach secondary students basic legal and trial skills. Students learn how to conduct direct and cross examinations, how to present opening and closing statements, how to think on their feet, and learn the dynamics of a courtroom. On the state level, the program is sponsored by the New York State Bar Association. Locally, the program is sponsored by the Orange County Bar Association and coordinated by OU BOCES in collaboration with the Honorable Craig S. Brown and the Honorable Kimberly Van Haaster. Local judges, attorneys, legal professionals, and educators volunteer their time to preside over the mock courtrooms and assist with the program.

For the 2023 tournament, the students are arguing a civil case “Remington Stone v. Marley Miser and Acme Construction Company,” a fictitious civil case filed by Remington Stone, who was injured while working as a contractor on a home renovation site and wants to sue the homeowner.

For more information about the Orange County Mock Trial Tournament, please reach out to

Melanie Lofaro, Assistant Director of Instructional Support Services, at Orange-Ulster BOCES by phone at (845) 781-4363, extension 10702 or by email at melanie.lofaro@ouboces.org.