Chief Justice Holder to Preside Over Championship Round
Nashville, Tenn. – Twenty-four Tennessee judges, including Chief Justice Janice M. Holder, will preside over the 30th annual Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition this weekend. Judges from across the state will join more than 200 attorneys and volunteers who will lend their expertise to this weekend’s state competition in Nashville.
Fourteen teams have qualified for the state championship by winning their local mock trial competitions. The winner of the state championship will represent Tennessee at the National Mock Trial Competition in Philadelphia on May 5 – 9.
The state competition will begin Friday afternoon at the Davidson County Courthouse in Nashville. Janice M. Holder, chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, will preside over the championship round, which will take place on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Six state trial judges will preside over the preliminary rounds of the competition:
Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood
Knoxville, Tenn.
Chancellor William C. Cole
25th Judicial District Chancery Court - Fayette, Hardeman, Lauderdale, McNairy & Tipton counties
Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr.
30th Judicial District – Shelby County
Chancellor Michael W. Moyers
6th Judicial District Chancery Court – Knox County
Chancellor Russell T. Perkins
20th Judicial District Chancery Court – Davidson County
Judge W. Neil Thomas III
11th Judicial District Circuit Court – Hamilton County
The Tennessee mock trial program was initiated in 1980 as a project of the Public Law Institute of the University of Tennessee College of Law. Shortly thereafter, the Young Lawyers Division of the Tennessee Bar Association assumed responsibility for the competition. Since that time, the program has grown and improved; and today, more than 100 teams participate in local competitions across the state.