SHS Mock Trial Team Are County Champs

Scarsdale High School’s Mock Trial team finished first in Westchester County this year, in a tournament sponsored by the Westchester County Bar Association. The team, in its ninth year of competition, also won the county championship in its first year of existence.

This year’s case imagined a Ponzi scheme concocted by Shawn Miller, a stand-in for real life schemer Bernard Madoff. In six rounds of trial – sometimes prosecuting Mr. Miller, and sometimes defending him – Scarsdale emerged victorious.

“We've been practicing hard since early December when the New York State Bar Association released this year's case,” said Ethan Gottlieb, a defense attorney for the team. Since “trial season,” which started in February, Gottlieb said the team has been practicing more frequently and fervently. The team faculty advisor and coach is SHS Social Studies teacher Daivd Heyman.

Team members pictured here are:

Curan Mehra - Defense/Prosecution Attorney
Ethan Gottlieb - Defense Attorney
Vidya Venkatakrishnan - Defense Attorney/Defense Witness
Callie Gilbert - Defense/Prosecution Attorney
Morgan Hecht - Prosecution Witness
Brian Guggenheimer - Defense Witness
Lisle Winston - Defense Witness
Peter Herman - Prosecution Witness
Harrison Shapiro - Prosecution Witness