(May 8, 2006 – Oklahoma City) More than 1,000 students, coaches and guests will travel to Oklahoma City this week to compete in the National High School Mock Trial Championship to be held May 11-14 at the Oklahoma County Courthouse.

Forty-four teams will compete for the national title. Teams from 39 states as well as Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and South Korea will participate.

Three Oklahoma teams will take part in this year’s championship – Atoka High School, the current state champion; Christian Heritage Academy of Del City and Shawnee High School.

The National High School Mock Trial Championship provides students the opportunity to model the roles of attorneys and witnesses. During mock trial rounds, the judges evaluate the students based on their familiarity of the case and the formulation of their arguments. Students earn points for each phase of the trial – opening, direct and cross examination, closing argument and how well their witnesses respond.

This year’s mock trial case takes place at a rodeo in which one of the competitors is accused of second-degree murder after allegedly tampering with a fellow competitor’s reins, which ultimately caused her death after being bucked from her horse. The case is usually written to reflect a unique characteristic of the host state.

The four rounds of competition begin on Friday morning and continue until the championship round on Saturday at 4 p.m. The national champion and other award winners will be announced at a banquet on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Cox Convention Center.

“Hundreds of attorneys and judges from across the country are volunteering to staff the event and judge the mock trials,” said 2006 Host Director Renée Hildebrant of Oklahoma City.

In addition to their time in the courtroom, the students will participate in various social events while in Oklahoma City. The students will gather for a western-themed opening reception and pin exchange on Thursday evening. The following night, they will watch the Oklahoma RedHawks baseball team take on the Sacramento River Cats at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. One student will have the chance to throw out the first pitch.

The major sponsors of this year’s championship are the Oklahoma Bar Association, OBA Young Lawyers Division and Oklahoma Bar Foundation. More information about the event can be found at www.okbar.org/nationalmocktrial.